時差N小時:兒童勞動法 Child Labor Laws

Child Labor Laws-Today on CongressionalMoment：Over a hundred years ago the IndustrialRevolution quickened the pace of manufacturing, andbusinessmen sought cheaper labor. Millions ofchildren worked at dangerous jobs, and the nationaldebate over Child Labor laws began. Listen to thesejournal entries from the early 1900s...

今日國會時刻——兒童勞動法：一百多年前，隨著工業(yè)革命到來，制造業(yè)的發(fā)展步伐加快，商人們要尋求更加廉價的勞動力。數(shù)百萬的兒童干著危險的工作，關于童工勞動法的爭論也愈演愈烈。下面來聽聽來自20世紀早期的日記條目。

Character Voice 1：On cold, rainy mornings, well before dawn, I have been awakened by theclatter of boots as the half-awake, joyless children hurried not to school, but to the greatfactory. They are thin and sickly looking...

日記1：在寒冷，下著雨的早晨，黎明前夕，我被一陣嘩啦的靴子聲吵醒，原來是睡眼朦朧，郁郁寡歡的孩童，他們急促地跑向大工廠，而不是學校。他們身型瘦弱，面容憔悴...

Character Voice 2：I worked in a factory where they made oil cans, and I saw children 8 and 10years old work like slaves on big machines...most every day it happened that a finger or handwas cut off, but that didn't matter, they were sent home, and others would take their places.

日記2：我在一家生產(chǎn)油壺的工廠上班，我看見八九歲的孩子們在巨大的機器前像奴隸一樣干活...幾乎每天都有童工的手指、手被機器碾斷，但這種情況并沒有引起重視，他們被遣送回家，其他的孩子會填補他的位子。

ANNCR: The injustices of child labor prompted people to organize, in an effort to getCongressional regulation. While many states took it upon themselves to regulate child labor,many did not.

童工受到的不公正待遇促使人們去成立組織，致力于贏取國會的改革方案。許多州主動承擔起規(guī)范兒童勞動市場的責任，然而其他州卻沒有。

As national discontent continued to grow, a key challenge for Congress was protectingchildren in every state without interfering with state's rights.

隨著國內不滿情緒日益高漲，國會面臨著重大挑戰(zhàn)——在不損害各州利益的同時保護童工的合法權益。

Eventually, after years of debate, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938, and upheldby the Supreme Court in 1941. It provided basic protections, not only to children, but to allworkers in the U.S.

最終，經(jīng)過幾年的爭論，《公平勞動標準法案》于1938年出臺，并于1941年獲得最高法院支持。這條法案不僅是在保護兒童的基本權益，也是在保護所有的美國公民。