Editorial: Bill aims to protect children

Thursday, May 10, 2001 | 8:28 a.m.

It is encouraging that legislation is moving forward in Carson City that would prohibit children, who are younger than 16, from selling goods on street corners or soliciting products to homeowners. Assemblywoman Merle Berman, R-Las Vegas, introduced Assembly Bill 74 in response to allegations that questionable nonprofit groups and for-profit companies were exploiting children to sell their products. Berman noted that some children were required to work in unfamiliar neighborhoods and sell their products door-to-door in the evening. If a child can't drive until he is 16, then it's tough to make the case why he should be on city streets -- often late at night -- trying to sell candy bars to complete strangers without adult supervision. Today's world is full of creeps who prey on children in these very situations.

The legislation does grant some exemptions to the ban, such as children who sell or deliver newspapers. In addition, a child who opens a lemonade stand on her driveway would be able to engage in the free enterprise system. Acknowledging that children who live on ranches or farms in rural Nevada sometimes work for their parents, family businesses would be exempt as well. For that matter, minors still would be allowed to sell goods for nonprofit organizations and schools as long as they weren't getting paid. This would ensure that fund-raising drives to benefit schools -- such as candy sales -- wouldn't be jeopardized. While there are plenty of exemptions, the legislation essentially maintains its aim, which is to prevent businesses from exploiting children.

It also is important that the legislation would give the state labor commissioner more latitude in establishing child labor protections. Labor Commissioner Terry Johnson said currently that he doesn't have the clear-cut authority under law to implement regulations that would enforce the state's child labor laws.

Child labor laws that started nearly a century ago helped wipe out egregious abuses at the time, which included having children work in sweatshops, mines and factories. No one is suggesting that today's children face circumstances that in any way compare to the hazards posed a hundred years ago, but these children still shouldn't needlessly be placed in harm's way, which is why AB74 deserves to become law.