Have you ever wondered if working conditions were always great for children our age? Well they weren’t! There was a time in life when children had to work over 6 days a week losing fingers because machines were sped up. It was a time when children worked very hard, but because they were children they had to work for low wages. But, at the end of today when I look back on the pass I can say this was changed when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. In 1912, 12 years old Camella Teoli was hospitalized when owners sped up the machines. Camella Teoli’s hair and scalp were caught in the machine that she worked at. While she was in the hospital her family struggled because she was injured and they needed her money to survive. When Camella Teoli spoke out to the United States Congress about what happened to her 23,000 workers went on strike. This strike was called the Lawrence Mill Strike of 1912. This was the children’s method of resistance to the inhumane conditions they endured. Followed by the strike was a protest and march led by Mother Jones. At these resistances children were beaten and arrested, but they continued to fight for their rights. At the end of these unfair conditions, children received the satisfaction of the passing of the Child Labor Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Before this law was passed children faced many political injustices. Also, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed. The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibited companies from hiring children under the age of 14 years old to work. In addition, it also prohibited children from working full time jobs. Children now had the right to go to school and get an education. In summary, I think that this movement is important because it exposed to children of today what life used to be like for children that had to work and it showed us that the rights we have today had to be gained and fought for. After I learned about how children were taken advantage of during the period of industrialization in America, I realized that if I were to work today I wouldn’t have to worry about losing a finger or my hair getting caught into a machine. But, on the other hand, I also realized how ungrateful children are today because we complain about getting paid minimum wages of $7 dollars an hour for doing hardly nothing when back then it was harder for parents to take care of their child and wages were much lower when they worked and much harder than we do today. Let’s compare today teenage jobs such as McDonalds and working in clothing stores at 16 years old for a few hours for 5 days a week to them back then working in dark coal mines and shifting coal at the age of 12 for more than 6 days a week and plenty hours. There is really no comparison. Their jobs were much more dangerous and they were paid much less than us while they lost body parts. We have laid back jobs in places that when simply put we could be called spoiled or lazy. From, 1912 to 2008 life for working children have changed. And thanks to children of the past and people like Mother Jones and others, I have many rights as a working child today!