Given today's emphasis by our leaders of "protecting children", we have heard of instances where a young woman, for example, she being a minor but fully aware of consequences, claims some adult family member acted inappropriately toward her sexually. It may or may not be true; that is decided by a Judge, probably. Similarly, minors may not legally be exploited by making them perform work or labor. At breakfast, my wife and I discussed a very young-looking girl bussing tables. I remarked perhaps she is not old enough to be working; here is my wife's response to the topic of underaged kids being sent to work by their parents: The Amish require their children to work chores on the family farm, from the earliest age when they are capable. My wife claims that's legal. I just don't know! Is it "exploitation of a child"? Whaddaya think? Frank
When I was young, I would see my father going to work with some of my brothers in tow. In the race track, work starts very early for horse trainers like my father. They wake up at 4am and should be in the tracks by 5am to check on their horses before the practice runs. My brothers were still young to work but my father had given them obligations in the stable - cleaning the stable, handling the horses in going to the race track, feeding, and other chores related to the horses that includes sweeping the grounds of the stable. My father's idea is to teach his children work while they are young so they will have the proper motivation to work properly. He always say that when you work, always do your best no matter what your work is - that is knowing the value of work. Well, as some of you already know, 3 of my brothers became jockeys and the rest, except one, became horse trainers.
I think that it makes a great deal of difference what type of work it is, and who the children are working for. I agree with your wife, @Frank Sanoica , that it is legal, and also a good learning exeprience for the Amish to have their chldren working on their farm from the time they are little. This is traditionally how families have done, epecially farmers. But even when the parent had a job, such as having something like a repair shop, quite often the sons were trained in the family business, starting a soon as they were able to help out, and eventually taking over the shop when the parent retired. Also, field workers often take their children along with them, and the children learn to pick fruit, or whatever the parent is doing. When my children were growing up, we used to work in the hop fields. The little kids just followed the parents around; but the older ones worked , and earned their own money working, and seeing younger teens out working in the hop fields all day long was a pretty common thing. Even when the parents weren't working there, many of the teenagers worked in the hops during summer vacation. They were actually better at doing some things than the adults were, and they didn't seem to mind the long hours either. The main issue with child labor started when children were sent to factories to work, and sometimes they were given very dangerous work because their smaller bodies could fit in places that an adult could not get into. Now, there seems to be a variety of ages to which a person is allowed to perform jobs, depending on what the job consists of.
That's legal, and children may work in their parents' restaurants and other businesses. Outside of parent-owned businesses, there are limitations on the number of hours they can work, and what the job is. It depends on what they're doing. I think there are laws about working with dangerous machinery but, even there, there are allowances for certain types of farm machinery. Laws may differ from state to state.
@Ken Anderson Thank you for that. Obviously, the ways in which laws are written, are subject to questionable interpretation, allowing the lawyers an "ingress" to forge ahead. I had not intended to question the Amish credo; just the opposite, actually. I believe teaching kids responsibility, which includes the work ethic, builds strong future adults. I had no kids of my own, so am running on about a topic supposedly outside of my "box". I greatly respect the Amish for their forebearance in light of gov't intervention into lives needing and wanting no such intrusion. My wife grew up in Amish country in Northern Indiana, and so understands their unique stand against social control from without.
If you mean today, yes, there are laws for the protection of children. In fact, minors who commit crime cannot be put in jail. The most they can suffer is to be in the custody of the social welfare office. With that law which frees a person below 18 years of age for his crime, that was obviously being used by syndicates. There are so many cases involving minors in crimes, not just petty but even with murder since they know they can get away with that. In my younger days, I'm sure there was no law to safeguard children especially in the workplace. It was a known fact that some Chinese factories have been employing children to save on wages.
@Corie Henson It sounds as though the laws there are as questionable as here, regarding their intended influence. Frank
Are we talking about working for wages or working around your own home or farm to help out with chores? Do the Amish children get paid? Lots of children under the age of 16 work but not for money. I do know child stars are allowed to work but only a few hours. Child models, the same thing. There's probably a lot of exceptions to the age 16 general rule in the US. I babysat at 13 but I didn't work til I was 18 and that was while I was earning some extra money when going to Pitt. I got $1.75 an hour which was minimum wage.
No, Amish kids don't get paid, but they work very hard. Actually, in a sense they get paid, because if they learn a trade, they're pretty well set up in their own business once they become adults. There are a lot of jobs that kids are allowed to take for money, but the number of hours they can work are limited, as are the jobs they can take.
Amish kids and to a certain extent all farm kids are born into the life, but when they are old enough they can choose to leave. Some of them like it and want to pursue the life while others can't wait to escape. My mother grew up on a farm, and as soon as she was old enough to she left, and got married within a few months afterward. She was kind of a girly girl and did not like the work that kind of life entails.