Senseless Regulation

I listened to a news report today about the Department of Labors renewed effort to implement “farm safety rules” that would stop most labor by children on farms. The two opposing views were presented by two men with partisan positions. One implied that this was in response to factory farms and corporate farms while the other countered that this was regulation to fix a problem that didn’t exist and to expand federal regulation. How about a bit of common sense! I realize that that is a rare commodity in D.C., but it still exists in our hometowns. According to the EPA’s website, corporate farms account for only 3 percent of U.S. farms and 90 percent of those are family owned. Most Americans would consider developing regulations that affect everyone for less than 1 percent of farms is extreme. I am the product of a small American farm. I grew up doing chores, and as I matured I learned how to safely operate a wide variety of equipment. My parents provided supervision, and in looking back, I realize that long before I turned 18, I was safely operating and working on every piece of equipment that we owned on the farm. Since when did bureaucrats in Washington really know when a child has the maturity to do what task? I trust parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and the rest of the family far more than some bureaucrat to know what is best for each child. Childhood is a process that we all go through, and it ends in adulthood. It doesn’t happen the night before you turn 18 or 16 or any other age. It is a gradual process where we learn to deal with the world, and the people in it. Those that advocate for safety are not trying to stop participation in sports, yet I have a hunch that more kids get hurt participating in sports than doing their chores on Americas farms. Safety is critical in farming, driving, and a thousand other activities. We all want to protect every child, but government regulation and oversight of every young person on America’s farms will accomplish nothing but doing damage to rural America. Let’s not attack American values by removing the next generation from the farm. Department of Labor: how about instituting a little common sense in your actions.