"I got a mallet for Christmas"
By Maddie Sheedy
Lost Childhood
Many factories and businesses hire children under the age of six to start working in their factories. These children are worked close to 20 hours a day in dangerous, unsanitary environments. The 1890 census revealed that more than one million children, ten to fifteen years of age, worked in America. This is sad because when a child should be learning and growing their basic skills, children under the working age are stuck in a mill or factory trying to sustain a life.
No Education
Furman Owens is 12 years old and can't read. He doesn't know his A,B,C's. He said, "Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." Furman has been in the mills 4 years, 3 of which have been in the Olympia Mill.
A Glimpse
This little girl is getting her first ray of sunshine after working for nearly 8 hours straight. She is around the age of 11 and has been working for over a year.
Forgotten Life
When this little, 51 inch tall, girl was asked her age, she responded with "I don't remember". This was because she has not been able to keep track of the days she has worked, or lived.
Just the Facts
- Many parents of these working children rely on their child's wage to sustain their lives
- In 1870, the first U.S. census to report child labor numbers counted 750,000 workers under the age of 15
- Last year's census report (1911) showed that more than 2 million children are working
- Many children have died from the dangerous machinery that their are told to work on
- Since the conditions are so unsanitary, some children have grown to have mental illnesses and defects due to the extensive time spent in the factories
- Children working in the mines have died due to the inaccessibility of clean oxygen