The Human Rights Watch group has conducted an in-depth study of farms across America, and on May 5 released a report entitled “Field of Peril”, a disturbing insider chronicle about the conditions that American children are being subjected to.  HRW interviewed over 140 farm workers including 70 children that previously worked or were currently working on farms across the U.S., and set out governmental failure to address the multitude of abuses that have left these children to the mercy of employers that clearly have no regard for their well being or their childhood.  What is even more disturbing than the report is the fact that this isn’t new news, in 2000 a similar report was issued by Human Rights Watch, and absolutely nothing was done.

The Demographics of the Workers

The children affected by this crisis are usually children of Latino descent born in America to parents that are frequently undocumented immigrants.  They are hired to work alongside their parents, parents who are afraid to create any waves due to their precarious position- fear of reprisal in the form of being reported to U.S. immigration officials; which could result in the deportation of the entire family.   Over 14 states are implicated, but the interviewees mainly consisted of workers in Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, and Texas.

Working Conditions

The interviews revealed such heinous working conditions such as 10-12 hour work days picking cotton, tobacco, fruits, and vegetables; working with sharp and unsafe farm equipment; toiling in extreme heat and cold temperatures with improper clothing or hydration; and working without common comforts such as operable toilets, a place to wash their hands, or even drinking water.  In fact, children often are required to bring their own water or to pay for clean drinking water out of their skimpy wages. Also very common were reports of direct and indirect exposure to toxic pesticides with lack of proper protective gear (i.e. masks, gloves, etc).

These children report to work sick, injured, and suffering from a variety of ailments related to their working situation including stroke and dehydration, rashes, dizziness, even brain damage and death.  Mostly out of fear of missing one day of wages or losing their jobs.  Girls are very vulnerable to sexual abuses ranging from assault to rape.  In short these conditions create a workplace so unsafe that the Human Rights Watch group reports that child farm workers suffer over four times the work related fatalities of other young workers.

Trapped

The most tragic aspect of it all is that these children usually get trapped into the cycle of lifelong farm work because their education is hugely impacted by their working conditions.  Since there are no limits on how many hours children employed by the farming industry can work, they often skip school to work or are so tired that if they actually make it, the changes of learning are slim to none.  Also, residence requirements for registering for school are unable to be met due to the constant migration to find the next season of available work. Without proper education these children are doomed to a life of toil and hardship and unless major changes are made in current laws, this cycle will continue.

Lack of Governmental Oversight

The governmental agencies that are in place to prevent these types of child labor abuses, have miserably failed this group of children on multiple fronts.  The laws that have been enacted to ensure that American children don’t suffer at the hands of unscrupulous employers are non-existent or desperately lacking in the world of agriculture.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which was enacted in part to prevent abuses just like these, is silent on the agricultural front, with no current limitations on the amount of hours children farm workers can work during the school week.  OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in charge of ensuring that all Americans have a safe and habitable work environment (think free drinking water, bathroom, a place to wash your hands) is not even a concern for small farms due to a congressional exemption for farms with less than 11 workers. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently has no regulations in place that restrict or limits children on farms exposure to certain hazardous materials and pesticides.  Also the Department of Labor has not fixed a glitch in the law that allows children over 16 to operate equipment in the agricultural industry that they would not be allowed to operate in the non-agricultural industry.

Compounding all of this is the reluctance of both children and parents to report abuses to authorities for fear of reprisal, their sometimes inability to speak English, and the lack of routine investigations into farms that could uncover possible violations that are covered under existing law.  As with any large industry, a lack of regulation brings on loads of abuses- businesses are not so good on self-regulation especially if it impacts profits

The CARE Act

There is a movement among agencies like HRW and to get new laws passed offering greater protection and oversight of the agricultural employment industry. In 2009, several legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives co-sponsored a bill titled, the Children’s Act of Responsible Employment (the CARE Act), although as of yet it hasn’t been put to vote.

Start making some noise by contacting your Representatives and Senators and urge them to make changes in existing law.   Lobby on behalf of these children who are voiceless.  Every child deserves a childhood- there is no excuse for the country that spends millions on eradicating illegal child labor on the international level to allow the same types of abuses to take place at home.