Mom and son delivering phone books « Columbus Underground Messageboard

Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Everyday Chit Chat

Mom and son delivering phone books

[122 posts] [42 contributors]

Topic Rating:

(Total Ratings: )
Rate this topic:

Started 8 months ago by GW_Justice
Latest reply from alexs

Tags:

No tags yet. Add them below.

12…7 Next »

GW_Justice
Grandview Hts.
Login to Send PM

I just saw the phone book delivery (the issue of why they deliver big stacks of paper to people who will never use them is another discussion). There was a mom walking the street with a handful of books, as she got to the front of each house she would send her son to the front porch to drop the book.

Her son appeared to be about 5 years old.

Is this something that should be reported to the authorities? Or is this just a healthy walk for the kid, and a part time job, so it is not worth bothering about.

Additional point, the mom appeared to be 300lbs, and would probably have major problems doing the work without her son.

Also, the truck with the stacks of phone books picked the mom and son up. The guy running the crew approved of the kid working.

Thoughts?

Relevant link.

Posted 8 months ago #
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
Login to Send PM

GW_Justice said:
I just saw the phone book delivery (the issue of why they deliver big stacks of paper to people who will never use them is another discussion). There was a mom walking the street with a handful of books, as she got to the front of each house she would send her son to the front porch to drop the book.

Her son appeared to be about 5 years old.

Is this something that should be reported to the authorities? Or is this just a healthy walk for the kid, and a part time job, so it is not worth bothering about.

Additional point, the mom appeared to be 300lbs, and would probably have major problems doing the work without her son.

Also, the truck with the stacks of phone books picked the mom and son up. The guy running the crew approved of the kid working.

Thoughts?

I don't know child labor laws in great detail, but if yellow pages is making money selling ad space and allowing little kids to end up doing the labor...

if i had to guess I'd say mom is the one being paid and DFS might wanna know about this crap.

Posted 8 months ago #
2thDoc
Downtown
Login to Send PM

Times have changed, but I had a paper route from ages 8-12 in small town Ohio. No adult supervision. (I was compensated, not my parent) The paper I used to deliver now has different rules in place. Must be 18 with a valid driver's license and proof of insurance. It really gave me a strong work ethic, made me responsible at an early age and helped me buy some cool stuff growing up.

In this instance, if the mother is being compensated and the young child is doing the work, I see a problem. Labor Laws are different than they used to be. I think that in order to work before the age of 15, you have to be in a family business.

Posted 8 months ago #
misskitty
Columbus
Login to Send PM

As long as the kid is not missing valuable education time who cares?
If you are seriously going to report someone for putting their kid to work then you should also call on a hundred other places in town that have their kids help them at their jobs. Don’t be that guy. Besides kids really do need to learn work ethic and the drive to do it.
I am actually glad to hear that someone puts their kid to work instead of just letting him lounge around all day.I would do it also, As it is rightnow my kid does some labor intensive work at home and other jobs around the house I should be reported.

Posted 8 months ago #
Tenzo
Chicago Lakeshore
Login to Send PM

I see this in German Village all the time. Guy in a white panel van with stacks of papers. Large Mom is supervising two little kids as they go from house to house dropping of the GV-Weekly or the other paper.

Never thought much of it. Thought it was nice that the family was getting out together.

Posted 8 months ago #
GW_Justice
Grandview Hts.
Login to Send PM

Additional info: Current temp, near 90 degrees. Full sun. Kid has no hat or other protection, just shorts and t-shirt. I didn't see any water bottles, although there is probably water in the truck.

Posted 8 months ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
Login to Send PM

I'm going to agree with MissKitty, don't be that guy. Its a waste of DFS time and resources when there seems to be more speculation than abuse. If the scenario described the mom berating or bullying her kid into dropping the phone books off it would be one thing, but to me it sounds like a person doing the best they can with the resources they have.
Also, if the parent was 300 pounds would you care?

Posted 8 months ago #
melmont
Clintonville/Worthington
Login to Send PM

I am glad you posted this. I have the same thing in my neighborhood. Two boys, about 4 and 6, delivering "This Week in Clintonville" every Wednesday evening. About 50 percent of the time, I see their dad trailing along behind them in his car barking out orders. The other 50 percent of the time I don't see the dad at all. Never once have I seen the dad help. The boys are clearly struggling with heavy bags full of papers, especially in the heat. I have not thought about calling Children's Services, but I have thought of calling Suburban News. And by the way- the dad is driving a brand new car so I can't believe this is a family struggling financially.

Posted 8 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
Login to Send PM

Isn't that kid taking a job from a real american worker? Deport him back to daycare immediately!

All kidding aside, this is kind of a very gray legal area with as little context as you have to go on. I would imagine most, if not all delivery of things like phone books is subcontracted out at least one degree of separation, so it's very likely that Yellow Pages per se, wouldn't have any idea who's actually delivering them. But, without knowing more details about what company is actually paying for the routes to be run, and details about this person's situation in particular, are they an owner or employee, it's very hard to make a good judgement call.

She could also be a person who has no or very limited access to affordable daycare given current cutbacks, etc (given that most kids have gone back to school, it would be reasonable to assume the child is <=5) and he's going to be at work with her regardless (if she can find work that will allow a child on the premises). In that case, that fact that the kid is running book errands is a symptom of a problem further upstream that should be dealt with, and the downstream issue would likely be self-correcting.

ETA: The above shouldn't be read to indicate that exploitation of this sort can't happen, it most certainly can, but determining exploitation is the root is mostly about observing a consistent pattern of behavior.

Posted 8 months ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
Login to Send PM

GW_Justice said:
Additional info: Current temp, near 90 degrees. Full sun. Kid has no hat or other protection, just shorts and t-shirt. I didn't see any water bottles, although there is probably water in the truck.

Sounds like summer camp when I was a kid.

Posted 8 months ago #
phaedrus
Clintonville / Beechwold
Login to Send PM

I have no issue with this and did similar jobs at that age with my mother. I would argue that the mother's decision to bring him along, as opposed to dropping him off at a sitter is the more responsible choice.

Also, I'm certain there were whole nation of 5 year olds who were up at 5AM this morning on account of farming tasks.

Posted 8 months ago #
Tenzo
Chicago Lakeshore
Login to Send PM

GW_Justice said:
Additional info: Current temp, near 90 degrees. Full sun. Kid has no hat or other protection, just shorts and t-shirt. I didn't see any water bottles.

It's a wonder we didn't die of heat exhaustion and radiation burns when I was a kid.

We had no sunscreen, ran around without our shirts on all day, bottled water was rare and no one knew about hydration. In the summer our parents would kick us out of the house for the day because it was; "too nice to be inside". When I ran track they would give us salt tablets to suck on because gaterade wasn't sold yet. I had a paper route at 12.

(And I did it all while playing polo on my dinasaur, now GET OFF MY LAWN!)

With childhood obesiety rates so high it's good to see them out of the house. It's not like it's going to hurt them in any way.

As for out in a summer day in the sun at 90, what the heck is wrong with that?
It's a lot better than sitting inside a house that is most likely warmer.

Posted 8 months ago #
myliftkk
Columbus, OH
Login to Send PM

phaedrus said:
I have no issue with this and did similar jobs at that age with my mother. I would argue that the mother's decision to bring him along, as opposed to dropping him off at a sitter is the more responsible choice.

Also, I'm certain there were whole nation of 5 year olds who were up at 5AM this morning on account of farming tasks.

That entirely depends on your perspective of risk assessment. If your perspective is the one that is writing the insurance policy on an operating environment like this, you most certainly do not want children involved as a regular rule.

Posted 8 months ago #
ChrisSunami
King-Lincoln District
Login to Send PM

I don't see anything wrong with a working mother bringing her son along with her part-time job and letting him help out. In fact, it sounds like a good idea to me.

On the other hand, the situation melmont described sounds very different to me, particularly because of the parent's absence. I would definitely report that to SNN.

In either case, however, I agree that involving Children's Services should be a very last resort. That's very rarely in the best interest of a child who isn't facing actual physical or sexual abuse.

Posted 8 months ago #
rus

Login to Send PM

lifeontwowheels said:
Sounds like summer camp when I was a kid.

Yeah, really.

Posted 8 months ago #
Yeti22
Village
Login to Send PM

Its probably a good lesson that the mom never learned.
I worked as a stock boy ~3 hours a day a couple days a week from ages 6-10 during the summer. I usually asked to do it. My grandma paid me in toys and candy. I've never been able to allow myself to not have a job.

Posted 8 months ago #
GW_Justice
Grandview Hts.
Login to Send PM

I'm reading a lot of people comparing the work this 5 year old is doing with the work they did for their families as kids.

Delivering Yellow pages is not working for your family, it is about as far as you can get from a small family company. I'm sure that the person who gives them their pay is a contractor, but that doesn't change the fact they are doing work for a large corporation. Your "I did this kind of work for my parents when I was that age" has no relevance to this case.

What will happen if this kid falls down and breaks a leg? Do you think the contractor has insurance or worker's comp for a 5 year old?

If he is injured, the contractor will disappear. An emergency squad will take him to an ER, and he will be patched up - on public money. Is this how it is supposed to work? A major corporation gets to keep the profit, and we all pay for the costs when things go wrong with their workers?

Posted 8 months ago #
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
Login to Send PM

GW_Justice said:
I'm reading a lot of people comparing the work this 5 year old is doing with the work they did for their families as kids.

Delivering Yellow pages is not working for your family, it is about as far as you can get from a small family company. I'm sure that the person who gives them their pay is a contractor, but that doesn't change the fact they are doing work for a large corporation. Your "I did this kind of work for my parents when I was that age" has no relevance to this case.

What will happen if this kid falls down and breaks a leg? Do you think the contractor has insurance or worker's comp for a 5 year old?

If he is injured, the contractor will disappear. An emergency squad will take him to an ER, and he will be patched up - on public money. Is this how it is supposed to work? A major corporation gets to keep the profit, and we all pay for the costs when things go wrong with their workers?

exactly. From the original observation, this is not a kid with a paper route (a fine tradition). This isn't a family working together in a cottage industry (another fine tradition). This sounds to me more like mom getting a job and making the kid (at what pay?) do the actual work so she doesn't have to.

Posted 8 months ago #
kit444
Elsewhere
Login to Send PM

Rockmastermike said:
This sounds to me more like mom getting a job and making the kid (at what pay?) do the actual work so she doesn't have to.

She's just preparing him for life in a capitalist economy. j/k

Posted 8 months ago #
Cookie
Flyntonville
Login to Send PM

This is not child abuse. Do not waste Childrens Services' scarce (public) resources.

Posted 8 months ago #