Youth peddling safety awareness : protecting Oklahoma youth from the dangers of door-to-door selling and fundraising

              Did you know?
• Federal law prohibits children under 16 years to be
employed in door-to-door sales.
• Many door-to-door companies are commercial enterprises
which support bogus charities.
• Kids are attracted to these door-to-door companies be-cause
they believe it offers adventure, extra money, opportu-nity
for advancement, positive environment, and experience.
• Kids are placed in potential risk when transported by
van to distant cities or across state lines.
• Cases have been reported where minors engaged in door-to-
door sales have been sexually as-saulted
or abused; deserted for not
meeting sales quota; crammed into
vans without seats or seat belts;
maimed, killed, or forced to be ser-vants;
and victims of, or participants
in, criminal activity.
• Approximately 50,000 children are
working as youth peddlers on any
given day of the year in very danger-ous
conditions.
If you are approached at your door by a
youth peddler, have a parent or guardian:
• Get name and age of the young person.
• Get the group’s name and address.
• Get the name and phone number of the young person’s
supervisor.
• Ask where the young person’s supervisor is.
• Ask what the money supports.
• Ask which schools have worked with the campaign.
• Ask to see the seller’s permit.
• Ask how much the young person personally makes for
each sale.
Protecting Oklahoma youth from the dangers
of door-to-door selling and fundraising.
SAFETY ALERT: There are some door-to-door companies in operation recruiting children
as young as eight years old and taking them to unfamiliar neighborhoods, distant cities and
even across state lines. These school-aged kids go door-to-door asking residents to buy their
products to support fake charities and businesses.
2
Safety Precautions for Kids
• Determine whether you are dealing with a legitimate door-to-
door company.
• Check with local police to see if the door-to-door com-pany
has a license or permit to operate.
• Make sure your parents have the employer’s name, ad-dress,
phone number, schedule, and the location where you
work.
• Make sure you are paired with other kids rather than
working alone.
• Make sure there is adult supervision at all times.
• Do not travel further than 10 miles
away from home.
• Have an emergency plan in place in
the event that you are dropped off on
a street corner, taken across state
lines, or asked to do something ille-gal.
• Do not ever enter a stranger’s
home.
• Be sure that you know your rights
under the law.
Other Considerations
• Consider door-to-door company suspicious if not heard of
before.
• Save any literature given to you.
• Do not buy items if there is not an adult present.
• Have your parent or guardian report the door-to-door
activity to the local police department and provide the
name of the company, what is being sold, approximate
age of the child and location where the sales activity was
last seen.
Youth Peddling Safety Awareness
Oklahoma Department of Labor
Mark Costello
Commissioner of Labor
Employment Standards Division, Child Labor Unit
1-888-269-5353, Toll-free, Statewide
www.labor.ok.gov
®
This publication, printed by Oklahoma Central Printing is issued by Oklahoma Department of Labor as authorized by
Oklahoma Commissioner of Labor. 1000 copies have been prepared and distributed at a cost of $261.00. Copies have
been deposited with the Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. [74 O.S. 2001 §3105 (B)]