It’s all fun and games until someone gets squished.
Although I’m currently working in the D.C.-area, I somehow still have publications with my byline coming out of UGA. The latest addition was a story on research to improve farm safety in kids.
If I learned anything from reporting on this story, it was this: DON’T GIVE ANYBODY A RIDE ON A TRACTOR. Just don’t do it. There are other ways to bond with your kids, such as picking apples, or playing the game Apples to Apples.*
What’s wrong with this picture? 1) This tractor does not have ROPS, aka the protective roof that will keep father and son from being crushed should the tractor flip. 2) The boy is not seated on an actual seat, leaving him vulnerable to slipping off the tractor and under that gigantic wheel right next to his hand. 3) The father isn’t looking where he’s going, putting him and his son at risk for hitting something and causing the son to slip off the tractor and underneath said wheel.
These and other hazards plague the one million American children who live on farms. Unlike at other jobs a kid could work** a kid continues to be surrounded by work-related hazards on the farm long after he’s off the clock. And you don’t see that many OSHA officials running around with clipboards making sure the standards in which farm kids are working are up to code.
Farmwork is their families’ livelihood, after all. It’s a family business, and I’m not about to argue with that.
What I will say is that families working on farms need to be very careful about teaching their kids safety before they allow them to start working. And I’ve always believed that if a parent tells a kid to do something, the kid will do exactly the opposite.
Turns out I’m wrong. In this study, the researchers developed a farm safety curriculum. Kids either got no instruction and received the curriculum after the study; or they were taught by trained program staff; or they were taught by their fathers, who were trained by program staff.
The group taught directly by their fathers was by far the safest when all was said and done. That’s because the fathers who had not only learned the curriculum but also had to teach the curriculum took the lessons to heart. Not only did they say they’d stop giving their kids rides on tractors; they actually stopped giving their kids rides on tractors.
It just goes to show that you can teach an old farmer new tricks. Also, it shows how being a research subject is not always about being poked and prodded. They’re here to help, people.
In closing, don’t give anyone a ride on a tractor, and never accept a ride on a tractor. Just don’t do it, OK?
*My favorite. Basically, it’s a game testing how well you know the people you’re playing with. Some people will always choose the most ridiculous card on the table to exemplify the adjective in question. Others will choose the most literal pairing. After playing this game with my family about a million times, I know one thing for sure: “Helen Keller” always wins. Ex. Classy Helen Keller. Brave Helen Keller. Historic Helen Keller. And–a pairing that actually happened, and won–Crunchy Helen Keller.
**If you have a work permit, you can be legally employed as early as 15. I know this because that’s when I started my glamorous burrito-rolling career.
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