Child labor laws getting an update?

I cannot remember if it was the paper or a news show that first dropped this tidbit of information, but it would appear that the US Government wants to go after cash strapped farmers even farther by mandating that children can no longer work on farms. When the Industrial revolution took of and the first wave of child labor laws came out, it was understood that children of families who operated farms were still needed to help keep the farm operating. It would appear that the Government no longer feels this way as it is looking at taking children out of the "Farm life" so they can spend more time on "Farmville."

I can only attempt to believe that the Government has the nations best interest in mind with it's plan to end child labor on farms, but in the long run, it is children working on the farm that go on to take the farm from their parents. Allowing a child 14 years to be lazy and unaccustomed to how farm life really is will only set the farm up to fail with the influx of the new generation. It is often the children of the farmer who take over the farm and keep everything running as they know every nut, bolt, and crop on their property. They feel more responsible for the farm as they have worked it their entire life, and they show a greater amount of responsibility in general.

The other problem with removing the farmer's children from his workforce is the need to replace the missing bodies on the farm. Farms today are only producing at a meager profit because of tax cuts and subsidies provided by the government. Forcing the farms to hire more people would only take away from their meager profit and may cause the farm to operate at a loss. A loss in a farms production puts more stress on the shaky ground of having to produce food to feed everyone and will inevitably drive up costs for the consumer who is already struggling to get by as it is.

My solution would be to destroy any plan of reducing the farms labor force and even suggest that farms become places to teach outside children the amount of work required to supply a meal that they are ungrateful for. Too many people today have no idea what it takes to keep food in the supermarkets so they can keep food on the table. Personally, my wife and I have started building a large backyard garden that our children are equally responsible for the maintenance of and share in the rewards. The hope is that we will not only save ourselves some money by having fresh vegetables and herbs at home, but to show our children the amount of time and effort required to grow even the smallest amount of food. Its becoming all I can do to keep them from picking our under-developed strawberries before they are ready, and they are watching the tomatoes to see how much longer they are going to stay green.

Education, the Great Debate

It should not be news to anyone by this point that we have one of the worst educational records of any industrialized country. Many people would blame this problem on "Standardized Testing" and focus on making working class people instead of future leaders. I personally find that the problem goes deeper than what I previously believed and the blame is to lay partially with our family structures and values.

I have been remiss in blaming the education system as a whole for not educating my children in a way that would prepare them for greatness. I have always had my hands in my children's schooling and some weeks email the teachers every day to find out how they are doing, and what they are doing. It was not until I volunteered that I found out the major causes of the slow progress of our children's education as whole.

1. Parental Interaction:  I quickly found that I was one of only two parents in my child's classroom that was actively interested in what their child was doing, how he/she was doing, and pushing them at home as hard, if not harder, than they were pushed at school to do their work correctly. The remainder of the crowded classroom were rarely paid attention to in terms of education outside of the school boundaries. 
2. Crowded Classrooms:  Standing and walking for long periods of time causes me unbearable pain and I will often use a wheelchair if I know I will be out of the house for a while. Inside my child's classroom is no less than 32 desks that are crowded closely together in order to fit into a room that was not designed for that many children. When I volunteer, I have no choice but to walk as the isles are just big enough for the children to squeeze through.
3. Teacher Salary:  My twins have separate teachers so that they are easier to handle. One teacher started this year with the minimum needed to be a full time teacher. The other teacher recently received her Masters Degree and has been with the district for around 5 years. The new teacher is paid a higher salary than the more educated teacher who has built up seniority in the district. Many teachers will lose their will to go beyond the normal lesson plan at this slap in the face, but for my child with the more educated teacher, she still drives on and extends her lessons outside of what they would normally be taught. 
4. Curriculum:  As it has been the design to produce workers and not leaders, the primary focus of public schools is to teach Math and English. Furthermore, the minimal amount of history, social studies, and science that is taught by most teachers is the oppressive version of our history instead of the true version. As an example, Christopher Columbus is taught in public schools to be the man who discovered America. Nowhere in the teachings does it mention that Columbus took Native slaves back to Europe with him. Our children celebrate a fictitious version of Thanksgiving Day as well. No where do the teachings speak of the systematic slaughter of the Native Americans and how after each slaughter the victors would declare the day a day of "Thanksgiving." I can understand the reasoning for sheltering children to a degree, but teaching them a lie is not teaching them at all and a waste of time. Furthermore, any type of logic and problem solving abilities are barely touched on, if at all, and that denies the children a chance to figure things our on their own. As a parent who is concerned about my children's future, I have taught them at home that which the school will not, but all of the children do not have the same opportunity.

In order to fix these problems, large scale changes would be required. To begin with, paying a teacher what they are worth would pull more teachers back to being truly involved in the teaching of their class. Where the money would need to come from to pay the teachers is an entirely different topic, but raising taxes, and cutting government officials perks and inflated paychecks would be a good start. Restructuring the standardized testing to include more subjects would be a good start as well. If the school day is too short to teach it all in, than extend the school day and send home more homework. My children get home at 330pm everyday, usually with no homework, and spend the next two hours playing until dinner is ready. When my children used to have to do homework, or I do something I would teach them myself, they would often complain about having to do more work the whole time we were working together. Now they have gotten used to it and only complain at first. We are breading laziness into everything we do, and our children are following our lead.

We need to change the path our children are on now, to produce a better future for them and ourselves. 

No more

I look out at the world and I see problems everywhere. For us in the United States, our way of life is not good enough for us (us being a general term). For someone in a less-developed country, we are rich in everything but life. There is no point in placing blame anymore as to some degree we must all burden that responsibility. Most of my generation, and those who have come since, have been labeled the "entitled" generation. "I deserve to have a nice house, a nice boat, a nice car, etc..." For those of us who do not feel entitled, we feel that we, as a people, have been let down. We are quick to place blame with crooked politicians and growing consumerism, but where we should be looking is at our family values.

For me, as a child, there was no limit to the area I could go. There was no worry that I was going to be kidnapped, and no worry that I was going to get into trouble. I knew from the instant I left the house, if I acted up, or did something wrong, I was going to pay for it with a belt across my backside. Having a family member drag you to the bathroom was sure sign you were in trouble. When you came out of the restroom, there was no doubt on anyone's mind what had just happened. Today that does not happen. All it takes is one individual to make a call, and your whole family will be sitting in front of Child Protective Services. In the one instance that did happen to me, I met with the proper people and told them what was going on, told them the extent of the punishment that was given, and they told me that the case was closed as they felt that I acted within the confines of my rights as a parent.

Where this is all going is that, today, as a people, we are weak in our resolve to do anything for the fear of being told on. We fear the stories, the looks, the process. As a fairly young, but disabled man, I would fear the looks I would get for taking the electric shopping cart at the store when I appeared otherwise healthy. Im here today to say no more, and I am asking you to join me as well. No more should we fear what others think. No more should we interfere in the parenting of a child. It is too late for our generation to save ourselves, but by instilling the proper values and beliefs in our children, they may have a chance at effecting real change when it is there turn. Those values and beliefs can only come from you, and any change is hard, but we should no longer neglect our roles and responsibilities as parents and as Americans.