Mexican Child Abuse?
About the Author
Ben spends most of his time working with underprivileged kids in Tijuana, Mexico, encouraging them to continue their education. He's an unofficial member of Iglesia Bautista Monte Horeb, which runs the elementary school, Centro Pedagógico Didaque.
A garbage truck stopped in front of my house just in time the other day. I had a plastic grocery bag filled with broken glass and dirt that I’d swept up from the street. The night before, someone busted out the window of an abandoned car that has been in our view for the last couple of months. So, being a good neighbor, I cleaned up the scene. And not wanting to throw it away in my own garbage can, since glass shards were poking out leaking dirty dirt, the unexpected and off-schedule arrival of the city trash removal was a pleasant surprise.
I ran around the rear and swung in the bag when I noticed the garbage man hanging off the back in typical style. Yet it was no man—it was a garbage boy, and a young one at that! Kid could not have been more than twelve years old. He didn’t look like the stereotypical Mexican either; his hair was blonde and his pale face was filled with freckles. His clothes looked like they’d been washed a week ago and had been worn every day since. And his uniform consisted of a leather lifting belt and gloves that were a couple sizes too large.
The first thought that came was, This is child abuse! Where are the labor laws and lawyers, parents and teachers? But then I pondered how cool it was that the kid’s out working and so, I hope he’s saving his money for education…or maybe he’s supporting his sick mother…or, oh gosh, I’ve got to help this little guerrito! I patted down the outside of my pocket, but it was flat—no wallet or spare change.
At that moment the driver took his foot off the brake and pressed down to the right, letting out the roar of a big diesel. I stood in the middle of the street fixated on the kid until I could distinguish him no more. He never once made eye contact with me, always remaining dazed to the left.
Wow, would I love to take this kid out for pizza, tacos, whatever! Hopefully he’ll make the round again to my neighborhood. At the very least, kid’s gonna ride off with soda money.
Assuming there’s no overt abuse (or covert for that matter) or that the kid doesn’t ruin his back before he enters middle school, I think it’s great to see kids working (in any country). It forms the basics of character and responsibility.
I sure hope this garbage boy is, some day, a wealthy man.
January 9th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
It is so refreshing to hear another person express this, maybe I am not nuts. When I see and hear the activists railing about child labor laws over seas, I picture the kids I know and love over there, and think of how devastating that would be for them if there jobs were taken away because of some do-gooder. Sure it is not the best option to have them work, but it sure beets a family living in a toxic dump full of radioactive waist! We go to great efforts to teach them trades as young as we can in the orphanage…. next to Christ, it is there only hope for the future. The average protester probably spends more money on there plywood and paint for ther pickets than they do supporting these kids so they will not need to start working so young.