OFI 806: My State Is Forgetting About Its Agricultural Roots

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I couldn’t believe an article I came across today about one of the most diverse agricultural counties in Idaho.  The article was titled “With schools closed, more Idaho students start farm jobs“.  From my perspective, I thought this was a good thing.  Then, I read the article.

The article talks about local officials in Canyon County who are worried that 12 and 13 year old kids going to work on farms with their parents is going to be detrimental to their health and their education.  They don’t expand on why this is going to harm the kid’s health.  And, they don’t talk about the fact that the Idaho State Board Of Education has shut down school for the rest of the school year.

This article made me think of a book that I have been listening to called The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure.  There were so many similarities to what these authors were writing about that it blew me away.  I couldn’t help but think about how good, hard work is for kids at that age.  And, I hear so many stories about FFA students on this show who started working on their family farms at a younger age than that, and how well they are performing, that I had to address this in today’s episode.

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