Sporadically picking through the sources in John Taylor Gatto’s Weapons of Mass Instruction. Here’s a link to Helen Todd‘s Why Children Work: The Children’s Answer, published by McClure’s Magazine in 1913:
This is certainly a fascinating historical document. While I’m as skeptical of the integrity of the journalism of 1913 as I am of the journalism of today, I find Ms. Todd’s account to be sobering.
Personal Reflection: I find it strange that our contemporary view of child labor is still largely framed by the the mental images that we hold of the factory conditions of the early 20th century. In this age of the service economy would it be possible to reach a compromise that could provide safe opportunities for children to be more productive members of society? Can they be any more than tax evaders who occasionally engage in illicit lawn mowing, dog walking, and babysitting?
Source Mention: Page 1
Our world is filled with problems. Many of them seem so unfixable that millions of Americans have begun to lose hope in a better tomorrow. Rather than give in to the fearful messages of doom heaped upon us by the media, along with well-meaning Facebook friends, let us take a moment to reflect upon something that we can hold close to our hearts as whatever it is that causes the lengthening of days to happen brings us nearer to the light of spring and a new beginning.
