There is a tragedy in this story about the federal government’s attempt to regulate children working on farms. A true tragedy.
However, just as tragic is this mother’s wish that government had made a decision for her so that she, and her 17 year old son, could escape responsibility for their choice.
Just like the escape mothers choose when the submit to highly regulated conventional maternity care.
Just like the escape families choose when they submit to highly regulated childcare.
Just like the escape parents choose when they submit to public education.
Escape avoids responsibility.
Life is a series of choices. Let government make them all and we are no longer free.
It’s interesting that the mother in the article thinks the law would have prevented the tragic death of her son. He was 17, he would have been of age to work there anyway. Even had he been 18, would that have changed anything? It was an accident, a misjudgement on the equipment operator’s part.
It is maddening to think that government would be all too happy to regulate farm work, even little family farms where the chores even rather young children are capable of is so important to the family. Yet in other areas of keeping children alive and well there are mandates that harm and even kill far more children in one year than would be injured or killed from a farming accident over several years. @#makesmecrazy
It is all about choice, and taking responsibility for those choices. There are certain choices where the natural consequence is punishment enough, yet now parents have the government ready to invade their private family life whenever someone takes the whim to do so. It’s rather sad. The justice system of the U.S. is supposed to be about restoring balance when a wrong is done, yet all too often that’s impossible at best so then it becomes about punishment. What point is there, other than driving fear into the hearts of other parents, in punishing a parent for a choice where their child is already dead or severely injured? The pain and anguish of the natural consequence is enough.
[...] regulate it what kids are allowed to do, to treat farms like any other job. Just today, I saw a post, where she references this [...]
Cause the government needs to save us from ourselves… so one day when we are in a padded room because people die living life. It is unfortunate that her son passed away, for sure. But to make the government do something about it? That is dangerous.