In my middle-class suburban community, the biggest problems the teenagers face usually revolve around how to get an “A” on the next test or how to make up an excuse for breaking the curfew. What we don’t have to worry about is laboring long hours every day for a pittance of a wage or being exposed to dangerous pesticides.

Naturally, I was shocked when I discovered the brutal facts surrounding the conditions of Child Migrant Farmworkers. It is easy to take our daily grind of school for granted; while many of us stress over finishing our homework, we usually never have to stress about having to drop out of school and working full time before we’re fourteen. The Migrant Child Laborers working on farms face this harsh reality.

The facts of Child Migrant farm labor are depressing. The nature of the work will ultimately lead the children to a life lacking in both education and health. Thousands of children have to face this lack of opportunity. To put a more specific number, the United Farmworkers Union estimates that 800,000 or more children work in agriculture, or, as the National Association of Community Health Centers reported, 38% of farmworkers consist of women and children under the age of 14. As these numbers prove, the problem of child farm labor is not a small one; it is a problem that is acute and growing.

Growing up, the ability to go to school was one fact of life that was considered natural and taken for granted. However, the ability for these children to go to school is a privilege. The children who work on the farms usually spend the day working, so they lack the time to go to school. Of the children who ultimately are able to go to school, the stress, burden, and fatigue of hard labor shows. While the school dropout rate in America is 25%, for migrant laborers, it is 45%. The average level of education for a farm worker is the fifth grade. This lack of education will be a major impediment, if the child wants to choose a different career later on. Thus, the child laborers are usually forced by circumstances to perpetuate the same cycle. They do not have the same opportunity and freedom that comes with having an education.

Working in the fields also exposes children to a variety of health problems. In 1989, the National Safety Council classified agriculture as the most dangerous occupation. One of the most striking statistics is that the life expectancy for a migrant worker is 49 years, compared to 73 years for the general US population. There are many factors, which have contributed to this fact including the exposure to pesticides, operation of potentially dangerous farm equipment, and overexertion. A recent health study showed that there are an average of 1,173 illnesses related to pesticides; the exposure to pesticides causes farm workers and their families to suffer from between 10,000 to 20,000 pesticide related illnesses annually since up to 48% of farm children have been sprayed with pesticide. The health outlook of child farm workers is extremely bleak.

Luckily, there are measures to take that will improve their situation. The Fair Labor Standards Act needs to be amended in order to address the situation of the child workers. No child under 16 should be allowed to be a hired worker in agriculture. However, the need for child labor in agriculture is usually caused because of economic necessity by the family of the laborer. The government should regulate and set up a system whereas the adults will be able to make at least a living wage, thus reducing the need for the use of child labor. The government needs to do something immediately to address this pressing problem.

I feel that the disparity between the people of my same age group is cause for great alarm. The youth of this country should be able to have an equal opportunity in life. However, the basic necessities of life, such as education and health, are not provided for in the lives of the thousands of children working as migrant farmers every day. I stand in solidarity with the child migrant farm workers- it is time for change.