Anna Furlich A1 English May 4th 2013

Child Labor Performance Task

Letter

Dear William M. Calder, I am writing to you about the passage of the Keating-Owen child labor bill. My father has been unemployed for as long as I can remember and I, along with my twin sister, are the oldest of five children, we are the main providers for our family. This is the case because most of my siblings are far too young to work. My mother passed away last year of influenza, leaving us miserable and scrambling to find a way to make ends meet. So, with my parents unable to provide for my family, my twin and I work long hours in a textile mill getting an insufficient amount of education. Please vote to pass the Keating-Owen child labor bill so my brethren and other children can have better lives and education which will affect the future welfare of our people (James W. Houston) the amount of education, work conditions, and age restrictions should be applied to the Keating-Owen child labor bill as well. If this bill is passed, it is likely that the other children in my family will not have to work in the unsanitary place that I do

Anna Furlich A1 English May 4th 2013 or a place that mistreats them. I have encountered the filthy, dank, and overcrowded environments in which people like me with families that are barely able to pay for a morsel of food are forced to work long hours in every day on an empty stomach. The Keating Owen child labor act states that any offense during inspection of the workplace will cause the person a fine (Keating and Owen 5). This should encourage the managers of my textile mill to keep the mill in better conditions and treat its workers better. Children rarely receive

breaks while they work even though some of them are much too young to be working at all. The ages in which children are to start working are far too young and older children and adults should be handling the long and arduous tasks and having long days at work and then having to work at night. This law (the Keating-Owen child labor act) established standards for employing children, including a minimum age of fourteen years for manufacturing work and sixteen years for mining work, a maximum workday of eight hours, a ban on night work until the age sixteen,(Labor Rights). Restricting the age in which children are required to work gives them a longer amount of time to become educated and pursue their childhood. Restrictions on the amount of hours that children are forced to work will help them to acquire more energy that can be put towards working harder.

Anna Furlich A1 English May 4th 2013 Children also are in need of an education even if it is basic things such as reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. Children only receive little to no education when they work in factories and mills. An education for children is important because they are the future of America and will most likely vote for the elected officials but with no form of education they would not be able to make an informed decision of who to vote for. They also could not do very simple tasks such as write a letter or read a book. I hope you will remember the contents of this letter and vote to pass the bill when the time comes to vote for the passage of the Keating-Owen child labor bill. Sincerely,