I chose to review the site Hidden Problems of Child Farm workers. The issue within this site has a great impact with education. Children of migrant workers are feeling the need to “work” for their family;therefore, they are dropping out of school at very young ages. There is another downside to these children dropping out of school as well. Since they are performing agriculture work, the current United States Child Labor Law does not apply to them. So children can actually work as young as 10 years old with parental consent.
I read a letter of a young boy that dropped out of school to work for his family. This was heart wrenching. He explained that his dad had diabetes and could work no longer. To continue living, he and his siblings had to drop out of school to work on a farm to support their family. This young boy felt that it was his duty to take care of his family rather than spend his days at school. Now after the death of his father, this young man is craving an education to break the migrant cycle. I applaud him for his goals!
My school system has several Hispanic families. I distinctly remember having a conversation with a young girl one time about this same topic. She was 12 years old and actually paid to come help our teachers as a translator. She was a very intelligent young girl. I could see her succeeding and going so far with her future. One day when she was with me in my classroom, she confided in me and said she was going to drop out of school. I asked her why? She said her parents needed her more at home. She felt that she needed to assist them. Of course, I tried to change her mind and tried to show her how many opportunities her future would hold. These opportunities in turn could help her family. To this day, I do not know what she did. I do hope she made the right choice.
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