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Critics are questioning the wisdom of a new set of labor laws proposed by the Obama administration aimed at eliminating family farms from the age-old custom of having their children do chores and generally help out on the farm.
Not only are rural-district Congressmen and women critical of the planned legislation, the kids themselves are opposed to such a change.
Apparently the Department of Labor is almost finished finalizing a new rule which would make child-labor laws applicable to children who work on family farms, making it illegal for them to partake in a long list of jobs on their own family’s farmland.
The rule states that children under age 18 will not be able to work “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
“Prohibited places of employment,” a Labor Department press release read, “would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”
The new rules were first proposed by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on August 31st will also include the revocation of the government’s approval of safety training and certification taught by independent groups like the 4-H Club and FFA. Instead the government will provide a 90-hour federal government training course.
One woman from a rural area, 21-year old Rossie Blinson, a college student from Buis Creek, North Carolina believes that the government’s proposal will most likely be more harmful than helpful.
“The main concern I have is that it would prevent kids from doing 4-H and FFA projects if they’re not at their parents’ house,” said Blinson.
