BEM June 2009
What if you had to work today?
A hundred years ago many children had to work. Some weren't even ten years old .Their workday was often sixteen hours long .These children never went to school. They head no time to play .They hardly ever got fresh air .How could this happen?
Some children had no mothers or fathers who could look after them .Others had to take care of their sick parents .Most were just helping their families earn money to live.
Many people worried about such children .They forced the people who made the laws to do something about this problem.
In 1916,a new law was passed .For the first time in the United States , young children were not allowed to have jobs in factories .
People today understand that children need to rest and play .They know, too, that schoolwork is the best kind of "job" for young minds.
Adapted from "Reading for Content"
By Jane Cutler and Janet Joers.
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