It makes no difference to me whether the child is from the city or from a rural area.
I’d like to clarify: I did not live on our family farm. I grew up in a bar, with lots of smoke, and alcoholics. I cleaned the bar with my mom & sis from a very young age. I have found through much life experience, that most kids that grew up into a family business worked as soon as they could hold a rag and wipe things down.
Our family dairy farm (about a mile from our bar) always had at least 40 acres of corn. The kids that helped had smiles on their faces. At the end of a row, they’d douse themselves with a hose of cold water and go back for more.
As for the corn or any farm work: IMO, kids should know how food grows. They should see, touch, and taste real food. Detassling corn only lasts for a couple of weeks in summer. Depending on the size of the farm it could be 4–5 days in a row or upwards of 2–3 weeks (usually with LARGE farms, teens are called in, as are any adults that can use the funds). Lunch usually occurs at noontime. On farms, there are barns to cool off in. Also, if you sit under the corn, you’ll cool off. Unless you’re on a hill directly facing the sun, there are cool spots. Most kids throw a wet t-shirt over their head or wet their hat to keep cool.
I didn’t find a video of 12yr olds talking about detassling, but these teens sure look & sound happy
@Ela In your situation it sounds like dad/grandpa didn’t teach them to watch over their heads/necks. That has little to do with the work and more to do with the guidance.
I’ve always worked in our family yard, on the farm (when we had one) or in my own garden for more than 8 hrs per day. Early on, I learned that sitting under a tree on the lawn will cool you off a good 10 degrees. But, I had great role models that took breaks for cold water and a bite to eat.