Dear Department of Labor: How about a little bit of "do this, not that"?

[Zalatix]

In the spirit of the "eat this, not that" articles I often see on Yahoo!, I offer an alternative to the proposed new Department of Labor rules forbidding child labor on farms.

http://news.yahoo.com/rural-kids-parents-angry-labor-dept-rule-banning-054605888.html

Instead of passing these laws, how about addressing the root of the problem: the hazards that plague farmwork.

How about this instead: STRONGER farming workplace safety regulations?

[Luminous Animal]

1. Adults choose dangerous work all of the time. And yes, the danger for adults should be mitigated

as well. These new regulations address deaths and injuries that occur at a higher rate for minors doing adult jobs. There are some jobs that will result in injury or death no matter how stringent the regulations. And within that subset of jobs, the risks are greater for children.

This bill addresses farm job that are:

1) dangerous, and
2) more dangerous for children who perform them

[Zalatix]

2. I think the bill goes too far by forbidding farmers' kids from working on the farm.

And I see nothing in the bill that actually deals effectively with the actual hazards of farm work.

I lean towards the idea of taking kids off of farms but I can see where forcibly doing this in a sudden manner can be as damaging as not abolishing this long-sanctioned aspect of child labor. Kids working on farms is not like kids in factories making shoes or iPads, at least when you count the impact that farming has on society. A sudden change like this could destroy family farms and force more consolidation. IMO: We need to study the impact of children working on farms and look for a more gradual solution; but we can implement stronger safety laws right now. The tech is there to make it safer.

[Luminous Animal]

3. There is a specific parental exemption in the regulations.

"The parental exemption allows children of any age who are employed by their parent, or a person standing in the place of a parent, to perform any job on a farm owned or operated by their parent or such person standing in the place of a parent."

[ProSense]

4. It's still

RW garbage via the Daily Caller (despite the Yahoo link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=609987

[Zalatix]

5. The whole thing is a hoax, eh?

Thanks for the heads up.

Farming is still very hazardous and this issue needs to be addressed.

[Luminous Animal]

6. About as big a hoax as Obama's death panels.

[Zalatix]

7. I get a feeling we're going to see a LOT more of this in the run-up to November...