Kids under 18 can't buy cigarettes in the U.S., but they can legally work in tobacco fields when they're as young as 12, that according to an article posted in NPR.org. One of those kids is Eddie Ramirez, 15, who works the fields in the summer.

At first glance, to me, it sounds like a sort of cast system, or being an indentured servant. Human Rights Watch says the practice of children farming tobacco is hazardous and should be stopped. The group interviewed more than 140 kids in 2012 and 2013, including Eddie, who work on tobacco farms in the South.

Being more of a student of rock n roll than tobacco farming, I can say many of the most popular artists in early rock worked on farms picking cotton or tobacco, as did their parents before them. We have progressed a great deal since then and I would like to have included child labor a part of that progression. Unfortunately, I cannot. For the complete story and audio visit NPR.org.

 

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