For the Amish, tradition and the Law Collide: wary of idle hands, the Amish are seeking an exemption from child labor laws for their teenage boys.

Over the din of a buzzing band saw, the Amish furniture maker complained that Uncle Sam was out to get owners of woodworking shops like his simply for trying to teach Amish youths a trade.

The Amish just want to be let alone, he says, but the federal government is meddling in their lives and livelihoods by fining Amish sawmills and woodworking shops that employ teenagers, in violation of child labor law.

"What are we supposed to do with them if they don't work here, have them stay on the street all day?" says the furniture maker, who insisted on anonymity. At other people's homes, he says, "I see kids watching TV. Shouldn't they be occupied doing something worthwhile?"

Federal law has long barred children under 18 from working in sawmills and woodworking factories because they are so dangerous. The Amish have upset opponents of child labor by pushing Congress for an exemption based largely on religious grounds.

More than 150,000 Amish live in rural communities in 25 states, predominantly Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. They are members of a religious community that broke away from the Mennonites, another Protestant group, in Europe in the 1690s. To escape persecution, many fled to America and settled in Pennsylvania, the colony founded by William Penn, where religious liberty was guaranteed.

The Amish generally require plain clothing and prohibit cars, televisions, computers and movies. Electricity from the power grid is forbidden, though diesel generators may provide power for businesses.

Amish religious rules also require children to leave school after eighth grade to learn a trade. (Pennsylvania law exempts certain groups, including the Amish, from school attendance after the eighth grade.) For generations of young Amish men, that trade was farming: The horse-drawn buggies traveling the back roads of Bird-in-Hand, Paradise and other Amish communities in eastern Pennsylvania at one time passed miles of pasture and plowed fields.

But today the roadsides are punctuated by sawmills and woodworking shops, producing tables, chairs, beds and gazebos. As economic pressures and a scarcity of farmland fuel a shift from farming to small business, the Amish want to train teenage boys in woodworking. (Teenage girls continue to learn skills like quilting or work in retail shops.)

WILL CONGRESS GET INVOLVED?

The Amish have persuaded allies in Congress, including Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, to introduce a bill that would allow Amish children ages 14 to 17 to work in sawmills and woodworking factories. Supporters say the bill, after falling short in previous Congresses, has a good chance of passing in this one.

Although the Amish boys would remain barred from operating machinery, many children's advocates oppose the proposal, saying some would inevitably get too close to dangerous saws. They note that the fatality rate in sawmills is four times the rate throughout industry.

"This is the 21st century," says John R. Fraser, a Labor Department official in the Clinton administration. "We should certainly respect and tolerate religious and cultural beliefs that date from centuries ago, but it would be irresponsible and dangerous to begin to tolerate 17th- and 18th-century practices with respect to child labor."

CULTURE CLASH 

But supporters say jobs for Amish teenagers are part of the Amish way of life and should be respected.

"What we're seeing is a clash of two different cultures, a clash of modern industrial culture with a more traditional, rural cottage-industry culture," says Donald B. Kraybill of Elizabeth town College in Pennsylvania. He says that the outside community doesn't "appreciate the value of children socialization and orientation right on the job. They think it's oppressing the children when in fact it's not. This is an incubator for Amish values and culture."

At the start of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of children, ages 10 to 15, worked in factories and mills. Public outrage soon led many states to pass laws regulating child labor. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act became law in 1938 and is still the basis of federal child labor regulations.

Currently, 14 is the minimum age for employment. Those younger than 18 are prohibited from employment in a variety of professions deemed to be dangerous.

But William Burkholder, an Amish sawmill operator in northwestern Pennsylvania, says Amish boys run greater risks if they aren't working.

"If we couldn't put our boys to work and they didn't do nothing until they were 18, they'd be absolutely worthless," he says. "We want them to be obedient and to learn a trade. If they don't, they'll be out and getting into mischief."

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* Should government have the authority to restrict some religious or cultural traditions?

* Why do you think the Amish object to laws designed to protect their children?

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand a clash between culture, religion and federal law, specifically the conflict between Amish, who want the right to have their teenage sons work in sawmills, and child-labor laws designed to ensure young workers' safety.

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

BEFORE READING: Have a student read aloud the "establishment of religion" clause ha the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Another student should write the clause on the board.

DEBATE: First, tell students that the Amish case is not unique, ha other instances, government has restricted religious practices, including ritual animal sacrifice and religious beliefs that require the withholding of medical treatment from children.

Ask students to discuss this question: Is the government unfairly "prohibiting the free exercise" of the Amish religion? How is the Amish case similar to or different from the examples of animal sacrifice or withholding medical care?

Remind students that government prohibits parents from exposing children to danger. For example, government may punish parents who allow under age children to consume alcohol or illegal drugs.

COMPROMISE/ROLE-PLAY: Ask students to assume they are members of Congress who must vote on the Amish exemption bill. First, have them vote up or down on the proposed exemption. Then, have them defend their vote on the exemption, either orally or in writing.

Next, tell students about the old adage that compromise is the art of politics, have students, as a class, in small teams or individually, draw up a compromise to the proposed exemption. How might a law allow the Amish to employ their children in the sawmills or woodworking factories without endangering them?

WEB WATCH: For information on federal child-labor laws, including rules on hazardous work, go to the Department of Labor at www.dol.gov/dol/topic /youthlabor/hazardousjobs.htm. See also links to "State Labor Laws." To see 60 photos of early child labor in the U.S., go to www.historyplace.com /unitedstates/childlabor.

Steven Greenhouse, who covers labor issues for The New York Times, reported this article from Bird-in-Hand, Pa.