To think that the US should abolish child labour?

[KatraAllandra]

Just read this story on the BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27350413 about children as young as 12 spending their holidays (up to 72 hours a week) picking and processing tobacco in the USA.

I'm utterly appalled that an apparently civilised country can allow this? How can they possible oppose child labour in the developing world while this is still legal in their country?

Arguing with strangers is dull sometimes.

By 16 I was managing one of our small shops for a week when the usual manager went on holiday. "Child labour" is only a bad thing if it is exploitative.

If you read the article the pay is not exploitative, however children are suffering from nicotine poisoning, working without protective equipment, suffering chemical burns and in some cases in bare feet with no where to wash.

That's exploitation.

They're being paid fairly, and it's in the summer when there's no school. They should be limiting the hours for them though. 72 seems a bit much. But I think if I were a kid, I would be working 10 hours a day to make $600 a week without having a problem with it.

As for children under 12, it's illegal. But those farmers are already breaking the law by hiring migrant workers without green cards and not paying them fairly. Why would they be paying the children fairly? They need to be cracked down on hard. That type of example is not allowed here in the US. Unfortunately, alot of authorities turn a blind eye to it.

I am really surprised that so many people are so "meh" about this.

If children in the UK were working from 8am to 6pm, 7 days a week, in chemical plants, all through their school holidays, without appropriate safety equipment, would that be met with a similar reaction?

I am sure there was quite a lot of outrage on here about children in Afghanistan working these sorts of hours making bricks.

Is it because it's the US? I really would have expected people to be a bit more horrified.

I'm fairly 'meh' but that is cos I live very rurally and lots of kids work lots of hours on farms all over the county. It isn't unique it happens all over the country on farms of all sizes.

From early starts to mucking out sheds, stables etc, feeding routines, general labour, seasonal stuff, tractor driving, operating various bits of big machinery, lots of kids round here work for about 5 or 6 hours a day over and above school.

So that's 35 hours plus schooling week in week out, more hours when needed for seasonal stuff.

Quite a few of my students work 10 - 12 hours a day when they are not in college. For them it is not only normal but essential for the family finances.