Gingrich and child labor

There has been general agreement for decades among those of all political persuasions - liberal and conservative, Republican, Democratic and activists with other or no party affiliation - that putting an end to the cruel practices associated with child labor was a salutary achievement. There always have been contrarians, though, men and women who inexplicably think otherwise. Count Newt Gingrich among them.

Gingrich, now the leading Republican presidential contender in some polls, took his first shot at the nation's child labor laws in a speech at Harvard University a couple of days before Thanksgiving. "It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods in trapping children ... in child laws which are truly stupid," he said. He then explained his reasoning. Or tried to.

"OK, you say to someone, 'You shouldn't go to work before you're 14, 16 years of age.' Fine. You're totally poor. You're in a school that is failing with a teacher that is failing. I tried for years to have a very simple model. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school." That notion, apparently, is among the "extraordinarily radical proposals" Gingrich has to alter the nation's "culture of poverty."

Gingrich ought to know better than to utter such nonsense, but he's apparently embraced the subject, assuming, perhaps, that it will enhance support for his candidacy. To that end, he forcefully reiterated his beliefs about child labor at campaign stops in Iowa late last week. Sadly, his remarks were greeted by applause.

He told audiences that he believes in putting [poor] children to work in paid jobs at their schools "as early as is reasonable and practical." He defended his stance by saying that sending poor kids, perhaps as young as 10, to work would teach those kids about the connection between "showing up" and earning money. "I believe," he said, "the kids could mop the floor and clean up the bathroom and get paid for it, and it would be OK."

"Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and nobody around them who works," Gingrich claimed. "So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of 'I do this and you give me cash,' unless it's illegal."

That's elitism and classism at its worst.

Gingrich's cold-hearted view of how and when children should work denigrates the many youngsters and families who happen to be poor but have a strong work ethic and a desire to improve their lives. Gingrich conveniently overlooks the fact that child labor laws were enacted to save lives and to end the purposeful exploitation of children in the pursuit of profit. Gingrich, a history professor, should know that.

He should know, too, that education, not the mindless drudgery of low-paying jobs, is the best hope for children to escape poverty. Gingrich's desire to put children to work in schools in poor neighborhoods rather that craft policies to improve teaching and educational opportunities in those schools says a lot - none of it good - about the man and his candidacy.

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