Argumentative Essay: Child Labor Rough Draft

During the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s child labor was a social issue that developed in the United States. In the early 1900’s, so many children ages 16 and under were working in American mine and factories. Our kids should not be forced to work at such an early age, they need education and a good childhood that they will always remember. Some children that are as young as 4 years old are being forced to work in crammed, dangerous factories. These factories are full of poisonous fumes and diseases that can obviously kill. Kids as young as 13 are being forced to work around 13 hours a day. Working these 13 hours is exactly what most adults are working at the time. Kids are also earning a lower wage since they are minors, employers

Or cloths it’s a pretty good chance it’s from child labor.Child labor is around every where it’s estimated more than 200,000 million kids around the world are in child labor.Child labor still does continue today it is a concern people are fighting to stop child labor but they need more people to help fight the war of child labor.Almost half of those kids are 5-17 years old that are involved in something dangerous in child labor.

During the 1900s, America’s children went to school and played. Children spent their summer in the sun by doing outside activities like swimming as well as reading books and enjoying an ice cream break. However, as recently as the early years of this century, there were many poor children that did not live the same lifestyle. These children did not have time to play because they spent their days in factories, coalmines, and in fields. Over two million children in America under the age of 16 had jobs that consisted of twelve hours without stopping. Many children were forced to work because many came from poor families who needed the extra help. The brutal conditions of working long hours and unsafe environments lead some individuals to

It is estimated that one in six of the world’s children are working in unacceptable conditions and that's about 180 million children worldwide (Kilcullen 218). That is a great deal of children that are exposed to harm or exploitation. The opposing side believes that these poor countries need child labor to survive, that it is alright to pay children low wages for the work they do, and do not believe that schooling is as important as work. By regulating child labor laws, governments would be able to enforce safer working conditions, increase wages to meet the cost of living, and mandate education for better opportunities even though the opposing side disputes these reasons and stance.

In the 21st century, our whole economy is depended upon technology. However, from the end of the Civil War and into the early 1900s, the economy was industrializing. However, industrialization created a larger need for larger workforce. The working conditions changed, but it often caused hardships for workers. As a result, the government, groups and individuals attempt to solve many problems such as low wages, child labor, and unsafe working conditions through the passing of laws and workers’ union.

Children would breathe hot air, would have sweat dripping down their faces and would taste the dirt and salty tears. Their backs and every other part of their body would start aching by the age of 14. This is what happened during the early 1900's when child labor existed. Families in the early 1900's (also known as the Progressive Era) would work their own children for 16 hours a day in awful conditions with very little pay. The abolishment of child labor made modern children not have to feel the pain that children would experience. The end of child labor in the United States affected children today because if the end of child labor never happened then child labor would still be a tremendous problem in the United States today.

There have been many major reform movements about child labor since the Industrial Revolution. One of the most important major reforms is the age limit in child labor. During the Industrial Revolution, around 18 percent of American workers were under the age of 16; however, today it’s illegal to employ children under the age of 15 at most workplaces. This is a drastic change due to the fact that young children have been working ever since the start of America. Another important major reform movement is maximum hours for young workers.

Children were expected to work and undertake responsibilities at a very young age. However child labor was brought to new extremes during the Industrial revolution. Children were put to work in factories and in such working conditions that would revolt adults today. They were forced to work long hours and would only be paid a small amount. They couldn’t afford to not work because of the need to support their families. They would be forced to forgo an education to instead venture inside the depths of mines or the vastness of a factory. As the United States modernized and technology blossomed child labor began to decline throughout the country. Due to educational reforms and activist groups child labor has virtually been eliminated within our borders. This has been a remarkable change in our history. We went from a country where children were forced to work and abandon education to a country focused on the growth and education of our children. Laws were created to prevent companies and organizations taking advantage of child labor. One of theses was “The Fair Labor Standers Act of 1938”, which set national minimum wage and maximum hours worked in interstate commerce and placed limitations on child labor. Also children under the age of sixteen were prohibited in manufacturing and mining. Another factor that contributed to the decline of child labor in the United States was the increase of the number of years

Child labor was a worldwide practice, particularly for agricultural and craft communities, and was not initially met with opposition during the post war economic boom. A massive percentage of the youth populations participated in the workforce during this era. The “official figure of 1.75 million significantly underestimates the true number, it indicates that at least 18 percent of these children were employed in 1900”. (history.com staff, 2017) These children were utilized for jobs ranging from food preparation and textile work to mining and operating

The U.S. Congress passed two laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1938 Congress had passed the “Fair Labor Standard Act”. They moved workers from farms and home workshops into urban areas for factory work. Children had always worked, especially in farming, but factory work was hard. A child with a factory job would work 12 to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week, to earn a dollar. Children would always have to do that because factory owners think they are more manageable, cheaper, and less likely to strike. They had another committee of the child labor made to help end child labor. The Nationals Child Labor Committee is the one that helped work to end child labor was combined with efforts to provide free education for all the kids they helped. The Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 had set the federal standards for child labor to be over with for good in the United

I feel that child labor was a horrible idea, and not just because that’s what everyone feels. I can not put into words how bad it is. Let’s just go back to the 1800’s, women with their dresses, hats, gloves, and umbrellas. Men with their suits, canes, hats, and monocles. The horse and carriages riding by, and you are wishing you knew what that would feel like, your parents can’t afford any of that stuff. You hear screaming and cursing. It's your “boss” telling you to get back to work. You have been forced to work at a sweatshop since the age of 10 to support your family. The big man throws you into the building. All of the other workers are the same age as you. All of yours clothes are dirty and you're sweating. The job is to work the machines.

While most children worry about how their sport tournaments going to go, how well they did on their test, and etc, there are multiple children who worry about much more difficult assignments that they have been charged with. These children partake in child labor, which is the use of children at work, where a large portion of the time it is considered barbarous and can be illegal. In 1938, when the law of Fair Labor Standard Acts was passed, which was a law which had set minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. Many people thought against this and continued to hire younger children to fulfill their work

We have all heard that child labour is a bad thing, however, lets try and think – is it, really?

Indications of a thriving society can appear to be the large factory building one sees when gazing across the landscape of London and similar cities in France, Germany and Belgium, however things are not always as they appear. As the demand for more people to work manufacturing goods also come a host of other issues. Women and children are now playing a larger role the production of goods that was usually reserved for workingman. Children should not be doing dangerous, unhealthy and low wage jobs at such young ages. Child labor should be outlawed because it leads to mental and physical health problems and different forms of abuse.

"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more." No one will ever forget the simple plea made by the poor hungry little orphan named Oliver Twist. Nobody will be able to omit from his mind the painful blows that Oliver suffered. Nor will anyone cease to recall what it felt like to be young and helpless in a much bigger and stronger world. In an effort to bring the ostracized poverty situation of so many children to the public's attention, Charles Dickens wrote an unforgettable book to touch the hearts of millions. Whether he knew it then or not, he was also bringing a new connotation and worldwide innuendo to the term "child labor".