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| Figure 1 James the Breaker Boy. |
Hello! My name is James and I'm 8 years old. That is me in Figure 1! I'm a Breaker Boy. Many of you might not know what a Breaker Boy is. A BREAKER BOY is a boy who picks small pieces of coal out of piles of rock. You are probably wondering where I am and why I look so dirty. I'm forced to break small pieces of coal in a thing called a breaker. A BREAKER is a little room where coal is put into (1). Every time coal is put into the breaker, BIG dust clouds fill the room. That's why I look so dirty!
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| Figure 2 James and his friends in the breaker. |
Look at me and my friends in Figure 2! We are working in the breaker. My friends are different just like me! Because I'm a Breaker Boy, my day is different than yours, I learn a different way than you, and even the games I play are different than yours!
My day begins when my mama wakes me up for work. I always wake up before the sun rise. Sometimes I want to go back to sleep but Mama doesn't let me. I always forget that I'm forced to go to work because I need to support my family (1). I always hear Mama and Papa talk about not having enough food to feed me and my 3 brothers and sisters and not having enough money to buy coal to heat our house.
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| Figure 3 A coal patch town. |
Once I am ready for work, I wait for my friends to meet me outside on the road (Figure 3). My friends and I live next door to each other. We all live in a patch town. A PATCH TOWN is a big group of houses where my friends' families and my family are forced to live in (2). The owner of the coal company doesn't want its workers to live anywhere else. I heard Mama saying yesterday that more houses are being built because the town is starting to get very crowded.
When all of my friends are ready, we begin our walk to work. The sun still hasn't risen yet so our path to work is very dark. Once my friends and I get to work, we sit down in the breaker and start breaking the coal. My arms still hurt from yesterday so I'm not as fast as the others. Mama always tells me I'm going to grow BIG muscles because I break coal for 15 hours everyday (5). I continue to work until the big men tell me and friends that we're able to go home. When we get out of the breaker I see that it's already night time. On our dark walk home I can barely walk! My body hurts so much that my friends have to help me get the rest of the way home. When I get home, my mama tells me it's time for dinner and then learning.
You're probably wondering why I don't go to school like you! I'm not able to go to school because I work a long time. Some of my friends tried to go to school. They had to leave because they didn't know how to read or write. They weren't able to practice their reading and writing because they were too tired after work. Unlike my friends, I'm able to read, write, AND do math! Every night after dinner my mama sits down at the kitchen table and teaches me. I really try to pay attention but I'm just so tired that I fall asleep after my long day. Mama eventually wakes me and I walk up to bed.
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| Figure 4 Old church in the coal patch town. |
I woke up happy today because I don't have to go to work! Me and my friends don't have to work today because it's a Sunday. On Sundays, everyone from the patch town goes to church. After a short walk, everyone makes it to the church (Figure 4). I think the church is SO big! My papa told me that him and a few other coal miners built it to make the patch town look nicer.
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| Figure 5 James and his best friends. |
As I'm just about to kick the can my mama yells out to me. I'm scared I'm going to get in trouble because I'm playing a game while I'm still in my church clothes. I quickly run to my house. When I walk inside I see that Mama is crying. Papa is sitting beside her and crying as well. I ask them both why they are crying. My mama says,
"James, I heard from a few friends that men in nice suits were at the coal company today. My friends told me that they are changing the rules in the breakers."
I'm not sure what she means. I'm not sure why she's crying. My papa can tell I don't know what Mama means and he says,
"Son, this means that Breaker Boys don't have to work anymore. The men in suits believed that you and your friends are too young to work in the breaker. It's too dangerous. The age to work was changed to 14 years old (4). You and your friends can go to school now!"
I'm so happy and excited from the news that I quickly run outside to tell my friends. I tell my friends that we're able to go to school so we can learn. My friends are just as excited as me! Joseph tells us that he's so excited to learn how to do math. I want to know who the men in suits were so I can thank them for letting me and my friends be able to go to school and play games LIKE YOU!
For more information on the rule that changed the Breaker Boys age, click the link here: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/fairlaborstandardsactof1938.aspx
References
(1) Breaker Boys. (2014). The work of a breaker boy. Retrieved from http://thebreakerboysbrianeicher.weebly.com/the-work-of-a-breaker-boy.html
(2) ExplorePAhistory. (2011). Life in the coal patches. Retrieved from http://explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=1-9-18&chapter=3
(3) Project Play. (2017). The rules of kick the can. Retrieved from http://w ww.projectplaybooks.com/the-rules-of-kick-the-can
(4) Society for Human Resource Management. (2017). Fair Labor Standards Act(FLSA) of 1938. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/rsourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/fairlaborstandardsactof1938.aspx
(5) Talking Points Memo. (2017). Breaker boys. Retrieved from http://talkingp ointsmemo.com/gallery/breaker-boys
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