well then the little mom-and-pop (and kids) livestock auctions I go to every week must qualify for "large commercial enterprises".
I watch these young boys work the auctions all the time. it's their Family Business and everyone contributes. they don't go in the pen with animals bigger than them, but they can handle the young goats and sheep safely and effectively, and that's what they do. when the bigger animals are run through the pen, the boys get out. and when they're working the lambs and sheep, there's always an adult in the pen with the kids, just in case.
but I dunno, occasionally one does something really edgy... like sit on a pony that's being auctioned off.
and man you should see the pride these young men have in what they're doing. you can see it in their enthusiasm and they way they carry themselves. these aren't just chores, this is them joining the fraternity of men. this is them providing for their families. you can see the pride and honor and confidence in them. you can see them radiate with a sense of what it is to be a contributor.
I wonder what those boys would be doing with their evenings if they weren't helping with the family business... probably something that would *really* build their work ethic like spending 5 hours on their xbox.
seriously, it is NOT the government's place to be in the middle of these families and their small businesses.
people are not entitled to risk-free lives. people are entitled to make choices, including what circumstances their children should be allowed in. the loss of work experience and the loss of self-identity as a provider that so VERY many of these boys would suffer is NOT a fair trade off against the occasional injury one of these boys might sustain from getting butted by a sheep.
children are NOT better off if they're "protected" from getting the kinds of experiences that will help them grow into *real* men and women, not whiney, entitlement-minded incompetents with no experience who are shocked by the demands of the real world.
yeah, some of those experiences involve risk. it's up to the parents to judge what risks a particular child is ready for, and parent accordingly. and yeah, sometimes someone gets hurt, and that sucks. but check the fine print on your birth certificate... it doesn't say you're guaranteed a risk-free life.
this kind of government overreaching just makes me angry. it needs to stop.
if you'll pardon me now, I have to go write some elected officials with the startling news that they do not know better than these kids parents how these kids should be raised.
People really need to understand the importance of good honest work and the values it instills.
