Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Ya Gotta Be Kiddin' Me!

Saw this story and just about flipped out:
Labor Dept. Wants to Ban Farm Chores for Kids

According to the article
A proposal from the Obama administration to prevent children from doing farm chores has drawn plenty of criticism from rural-district member of Congress. But now it’s attracting barbs from farm kids themselves.
The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land.
Under the rules, children under 18 could no longer work “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.”
“Prohibited places of employment,” a Department press release read, “would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”

Look, as a six year old I helped my Granddaddy feed the cows and helped Nanny feed the chickens. I helped slop the hogs and played in the hay loft. At age 8, Granddaddy would let me drive the tractor!
I went to livestock auctions and saw kids my age and younger, leading their 4-H steers and sheep in proudly.
Read the article and see how many activities farm kids will no longer be able to participate in...and  think of all those family farms where kids grew up with good work ethics learned helping out their parents. Think of all the family farms that are dependent on every member of the family pulling their own weight, even the kids.
I knew a family of dairy farmers that had 6 sons. Those boys helped milked, cut and bale hay and did many other chores.Without their help, the farm would have gone out of business and the boys knew it. They took great pride in helping their dad and uncle.

This new set of regulations is an outrage. It is (in my opinion) yet another example of the federal government attempting to weasel it's way into regulating the activities of private citizens and trying to interfere in family life.

6 comments:

  1. I have an issue with this, as the core of most family farms is the help the kids provide to the work needing to be done. I truly wonder what is next on the horizon after this is done...

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  2. Well, I guess I will go to jail then.
    What if it is not chores. Each one of my girls have a vested interest in the workings of the farm. If the youngest girls rabbits make more than it takes to feed them, then she gets the profit. The same with the chickens, goats, worms and whatever else they decide to do. Nine times out of ten when a profit is made, they reinvest it back into better breeding stock or the expansion of their animal business.
    I could list all the positives of teaching my children by doing it this way but that would take too long, but I will say this, my kids at a very young age could run a business better then the elected we have in office now.
    Can't wait till it is against the law for kids to do the dishes.

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  3. I didn't grow up on a farm, but my great granny had livestock & my granny had 2 huge gardens. Every summer it was my job to help shovel manure, bag it, spread it, plant, water, tend, & pick. I went to great granny's & had to feed the goats, chickens, pig,lay new hay, & hunt eggs.
    The only part of those chores I minded was the manure & I never said no. It made me feel good to know that I helped, to watch granny do her canning & knowing that I helped do that. People who are against kids doing farm work have never lifted a finger in their life to do anything truly productive.
    We're regulating ourselves into extinction....& doing it with applause.

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  4. They are just preparing the youth for their future lives; you know, sitting on the couch, talking on their government paid cell phone while watching Cable TV and tearing open their welfare check. Why would our leaders want children to WORK, let alone work in a job that provides REAL experience?

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  5. Its just another way for our Idiot In Charge to make you hire Illegals.

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  6. I posted last night, they have withdrawn their proposal.

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Because of a couple of rude people that left comments that included links to porn pages and such, I have been forced to start moderating comments again.