He’s Not So Oppressed

Re “Timeless Treasures” (Jan. 26) and the 1908 “Self-Portrait With Newsboy” by Lewis W. Hine:

The picture of the newsboy as an example of kids oppressed by forced work doesn’t quite do it. I see strollers on a quiet downtown street. I see a neat, well-dressed kid selling papers. He’s working--earning money, maybe even goes to school to learn further entrepreneurial skills. This kid probably doesn’t belong to a gang. He’s evidently too busy to vandalize property, draw graffiti, shoot other kids or sell drugs.

If only our young boys of today were as productively employed as this young boy in 1908.

VaNITA WINKER

Thousand Oaks