This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Too Young To Work

Spanish Translation

Valdemar Balderas was 12 when he began working in the fields of Minnesota and North Dakota. He and his parents worked long days in the heat. They picked weeds and cleared rocks. They rarely got a day off.

Valdemar, now 14, lives in Eagle Pass, Texas. He still works in the fields. Every April, his family goes north to begin months of farmwork. "It's hard," Valdemar told TFK. "At the end of the day, I feel so tired."

Forced to Work
As many as 500,000 kids in the United States work on farms for little pay. To help their families earn money, child farmworkers often leave school for long stretches. More than half never finish high school.

The U.S. has a law meant to protect working kids. But it does not apply to children who toil on farms. The law allows kids as young as 12 to work many hours with their families. They use knives and scissors made for adult hands. Many are exposed to poisonous chemicals.

Ticket to a Better Future
Some groups in the U.S. are working to move kids out of the fields and back into the classroom. One way is to raise the amount of money their parents make.

Santos Polendo, 19, worked in the fields for 10 years. For him, education is the ticket to a better future. He will graduate high school in May. When he has kids, he hopes they never work in the fields and "experience what I experienced."

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