Mexican Boys' Activities: Work


Figure 1.-- This photograph shows an unidentifed Mexican shepherd boy (pastorcillo) near Cholula in Puebla state. Notice the boy's white campesino clothing. In the background you can see Cholulu. Puebla is in southern Mexico. Cholula is a beautiful small colonial city with several catholic churches, many built over pre-Colombian monuments. Particularly notable is the enormous Cholula Pyramid where pre-Hispanic murals are displayed.

Many Mexican children worked from an early age, especially in rural areas. They were assigned a variety of tasks. This commonly varied by gender. Often boys worked as shepherds (pastorcillo). Mexico until after the Revolution was a largely aricultural country. Most of the population lived in rural areas and worked on farms. Children worked in both family fincas and rancheros as well as on haciendas. Most children worked on farms rather than attending schools. There were not even schools in most rural areas. And the rural population was largely iliterate. This was especially true within Native American communities. We are also surprised with the number of authors who associate child labor with the capitalism and the industrial revolution. In fact it was only with the jindustrial revolution that child lsbpr began to be seen as a social problem. Although not as extensive, there is also considerable child labor in urban areas. Authorities did not begin to address child labor untikl the Revolution. The establishment of a comprehensive public school system has helped reduce the problem, but it has not been eliminated. This is primarily in the "grey" unregulated sectors of the economy. This continues to be a problem in Mexico.






HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Mexican activities page]
[Return to the Main country activities page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glosario en Espaņol] [Images] [Links] [Registration]
[Boys' Clothing Home]




Navigate the HBC Mexican pages
[Mexican choirs] [Mexican Scouts] [Mexican school uniforms] [Mexican communions]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main Mexican page]]
[Return to the Main country work page]]
[Return to the Main countries page]
[Belize] [Costa Rica] [Guatemala] [Hondurals] [Nicaragua] [Panama] [(El) Salvador]



Created: 3:08 AM 6/20/2011
Last updated: 8:40 PM 12/27/2014