[yequalsx]

But it would have mattered to the children who would have worked in the coal mines had they not been prevented from doing so by the government. In the long run you are correct but we should not let this be the reason for inaction.

[Enra2]

I think you may be assuming that either A) the children were forced to work or B) the children (and their parents) just did not know what was good for them. Both seem unlikely to me.