1913 - Child Labor

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1913 - The Exploitation of Child Workers
(Categories of child labor | Booklist: Children Working in America)

Performance Assessment: Each student will assume the role of a child working in the early 1900s. Students will take notes as they research factual information about the time related to their employment. Each student will create an artifact packet containing primary source documents about a selected theme related to his working. He will apply his content knowledge to original products that highlight 1st person writing activities using skills in descriptive, persuasive, and informational writing.

	President Wilson surrounded by child laborers. "Mr. President, we don't want anything. We just want to grow up." Life Magazine - June 19, 1913 Larger image		A Child's Creed I believe in being happy I believe in being busy I believe in being a boy. Bye'n-bye - I'll be a man. Give us a chance! We are citizens to-morrow. Larger image
	SOME CHILDREN WHO WORK IN YOUR STATE ACCORDING TO THE LATEST FEDERAL CENSUS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR THEM? Larger image		HOMEWORK DESTROYS FAMILY LIFE - Keeps the child from school. Prevents proper care of home. Encourages father to shirk responsibilities. Allows unsupervised, greedy manufacturers and parents to make a mockery of childhood. WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR CHILD TO GROW UP HERE OR HERE Larger image
	MAKING HUMAN JUNK GOOD MATERIAL AT FIRST (Picture: "Small girls and boys wanted.") High Wages THE PROCESS THE PRODUCT Worn-out-looking children No future and low wages "Junk" SHALL INDUSTRY BE ALLOWED TO PUT THIS COST ON SOCIETY? Larger image		OTHER PHYSICAL EFFECTS Children may escape the cogs of the machine but they cannot escape the deadening effect of long hours, monotonous toil, lack of proper recreation, loss of education, vicious surroundings (Photo labeled "The normal child" on the left is smiling and healthy looking and on the right is "The Mill Child" looking thin and expressionless.) Would you care to have your child pay this price? Larger image
	EVERY CHILD SHOULD WORK But the work must develop not deaden ENCOURAGE WORK If it trains the child to be a better citizen STOP IT If it merely make money For parent or employer WE MUST NOT GRIND THE SEED CORN Larger image		ACCIDENTS "Children are not equipped by experience to care for themselves in modern industry. AND SO THEY PAY (2 photos as examples) WITH A MAIMED LIFE Three times as many industrial accidents occur to children as to adults. Employment of children is due to ignorance, greed, necessity of industry and parents. Are any of these reasons worth a child's life? Larger image
	National Child Labor Committee, 1913 Larger image		WHY? TWO MILLION CHILD WORKERS UNDER SIXTEEN YEARS TODAY - WE WANT THEM TO BE NORMAL MEN AND WOMEN. YOU WANT THIS TOO. JOIN The National Child Labor Committee. Photo collage of Lewis Hine photographs superimposed on the outline of a map of the U.S.A. Larger image

Challenge: Use persuasive information that you have gleaned from the early 1900s poster, Two Million Child Workers Under Sixteen Years Today, created by the National Child Labor Committee along with photographs of Lewis Wickes Hine to construct an argument for or against the impending Congressional vote on Child Labor.

In small groups with one person acting as the recorder, analyze this1900s poster "Two Million Child Workers Under Sixteen Years Today" created by the National Child Labor Committee using your familiarity with the photographs of Lewis Wickes Hine as part of our knowledge base.

Focus on what we know, what we think we know, and what we would want to know more about it in relation to the time period in which it was created and used.

Teacher gathers all groups together and consolidates common responses by categories as group recorders brief the classroom group as a whole.

Teacher leads a discussion about student perception of the effectiveness of the poster to the anti-labor child labor campaign.

Following a teacher-prepared rubric, students write a letter to the National Child Labor Committee expressing their viewpoint about the use and effectiveness of the poster.

Using the rubric, the teacher assesses the letter for correct format, grammar and student reference to labor-related content and social concepts.

TEACHER ASSESSMENT

How do/did you determine students' prior knowledge? Teacher observation of content and skill readiness prior to introduction of the next task.

What have you planned to ensure that all students receive instruction appropriate to their needs and interests? Assessment of individual learning style and needs of students with adapted lessons for individual needs.

Useful Site Resources:

Lewis Hine Photographs (NARA) | National Child Labor Committee Collection of Lewis Hine Photographs at Library of Congress