It's Time to Put an End to Child Labor
People believe that child labor does not affect them, not realizing that the Persian rugs they put their feet on are made by suffering children in a dark, small room. They don’t realize the soccer balls that their children are kicking around outside are made by children themselves, who slave away for little or no pay at all. In 1999, ap-proximately 250 million children are employed or enslaved across the world for little or no money at all (Gay 23). Imagine how these child workers are depraved from experi-ences the joys of childhood. These poor children never get to play outside or enjoy a simple game.
Child labor is a harrowing experience for anyone involved in it. In order to end this travesty
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Children should not be forced to suffer adult maladies. Imagine a child aged seven, who is supposed to be full of vitality and energy, having arthritis, bad back, and cataracts. These are just some of the maladies that child laborers in Indian rug shops suf-fer from. Children often have to work in closet sized rooms, hunched over and squinting from lack of light. The woolen fluff they work with causes skin rashes and lung compli-cations (Williams 18). An even more serious malady happens on the sugar plantations in Brazil. The children use machetes, large knives, to cut the sugar cane crop. This poses a serious threat. Children have cut off appendages, mutilated themselves, and even killed themselves (Gay 14).
Children toiling in Cambodia brick factories drop heavy bricks on their bare feet and hands. No child should be forced to suffer such health complications. Since several countries refuse to buy products created by child laborers, the countries that employ children have faltering economies. An example of this is how there is a coalition called the Foulball campaign that “ensures that ‘children would not longer kick around the balls made by impoverished children half a world away.”(Berry 3) This has lowered the amount of soccer balls purchased from Thailand. Reebok and Nike have guaranteed that children did not make their soccer balls. Another company that puts a dent in the economy of rug based markets, is the Rugmark
Child labor was very common and popular especially in the late 1800s and early the 1900s even though many people were not aware of the dangers. We can define child labor as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and cause to their physical and mental development. Children are the base of a country but in a developing country child labor is an issue that has yet to disappear. Most of the children remain illiterate because of their poor economic condition and parents do not have enough money to spend on the education of their children, rather they send their children for work so that they could earn some money during their poor economic condition. The objective of my research paper is to raise awareness
Child labor is a widespread epidemic across the world, more so in developing countries. Child labor is defined as work done by a child under the age of 15, which hinders or damages their physical, emotional, or intellectual growth. Recent Researchers have found, “Child labor is as old as the latest settlements in the Indus Valley thousands of years ago” (Bahree). Instead of being in school growing intellectually, it is estimated that 250 million children worldwide are working to makes ends meet. Whether it be for their family’s sake or because they are being forced to work in fear of abuse, there is no excuse to place children in the workforce. Many sources show similar patterns in research when it comes to child labor, but few have solutions to the widespread problem children all over the world are facing.
Child labour is a very real problem in the world today, and although it is declining, progress is happening at a slow and unequal pace. Child labour by the International Labour Organization is defined as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development (Diallo, Etienne, & Mehran, 2013, p. 2).” In the most extreme forms of child labour it could account for child enslavement, separation from their families, exposure to serious hazards and illnesses and being left to fend for themselves on the streets (Dinopoulos & Zhao, 2007). In order for certain types of work to be included as “child labour” depends on the child’s age, the type of work,
Child Labor is considered work that is hazardous to the child’s health, the individual themselves and if it keeps the child away from school to learn. In many cultures around the world that have poor economic statue will eventually have the children’s not be able to attend school, instead they will have to go out and find work in the
During the Industrial Revolution around the 1700s, child labor spread. Many families during this time struggled financially forcing children to work alongside their parents in order to have enough money to survive. Child labor is a concern and a problem, because children are working in harsh conditions, which can have health risks. They are also required to work long hours, which have appalling effects. These children are paid the lowest wages while being denied an education. It is for these reasons child labor must be abolished.
The next time when you are out on your shopping trip, chances you may have support a business that exploits children. It is very disturbing and heartbreaking to learn many children are chained to looms for 12 hours a day because families need to have their child bringing home a small amount of moneys. Child labor has always been a difficult subject to address, the topic have become much more complicated and prolific.
The economy is steadily changing and is an essential part of every person’s basic needs. Families in lower economic brackets are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet, whereas, families in higher income brackets enjoy vacations and the luxuries money can offer. Today’s children in this world are ever more exposed to these diversities and are exploited for labor in today’s child labor black market. You may have imagined children in third world countries working in the fields or in the factories, but what about American born children living within the borders of the United States. Well, if you thought that was impossible, that children can’t possibly be working in United States Factories, or fields, you were wrong. Well according to the article Child Labor of America, over two million children ages four thru sixteen worked in the United States labor force during the 19th century.
The year to year increase in consumer demand for cheaper products have led major corporations to outsource labor in foreign countries with little to no laws preventing child labor and the building of sweatshops. Many parents here in America would be disgusted by the idea of forcing their young children to work long hard hours in factory but the truth is because of our desire for cheap products, “As many as a million children ranging in age from 5 to 15 work as debt-bonded laborers in the loom sheds of India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and the ILO” (Razzi 46). Many of the products we enjoy today such as soccer balls are made by child labor, “Eighty percent of the soccer balls sold in the U.S. are produced in a small region of eastern Pakistan, where about 20% of the work force is between 5 and 14 years old, according to the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF)” (Razzi 46). Child labor does not just exist in third world countries, “The International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations that is based in Geneva, estimates that about 13% of the world's children between the ages of 10 and 14 work, along with untold numbers of younger children” (Razzi 46). Even more surprising is the that sweatshops also exists here in America, “More than a quarter of a million people work in U.S. sweatshops, according to the Labor Department” (Razzi
Not only are so many children are living in destitute conditions, unable to survive without extra income, but working while they are young allows children to develop skills and knowledge that will help them become more competitive workers later in life. Skeptics may say that child labor is too dangerous and takes children out of school, but with the proper regulations and monitoring, including a requirement that makes sure they still attend school, allowing children to work can be both safe and beneficial for the children. After all, most children are not forced into child labor, but do so out of necessity and to help their family thrive. If we are to seek a way out of poverty for these children and future generations, we must provide an avenue to rise up. Education is one way, and lowering the legal limit for children to work is another. So for children like Pablo everywhere, give them a chance in life. Give them the chance to both fight for their future by attending school, and to fight for their present by allowing them to work to help provide for their families. Give children living in destitution a fighting chance by allowing them to work in safe
Today I want to describe to you one of the biggest obstacles to human rights today. I am sure that most of you don’t know that over 100 million children around the world work in hazardous conditions. Children in Africa, Asia, and Latin America work in extreme heat and are exposed to toxic pesticides that risk their health conditions. Statistics from the International Labor Organization show that ‘’there are about 73 million children between ages 10 and 14, and 218 million children between the ages of 5 and 17, working worldwide’’. I am here today to convince you that the worst forms of child labor, including child trafficking, commercial and sexual exploitation, child domestic work, and hazardous child labor are still a concern today, and poverty, the lack of social protection, and the lack of decent work for adults are some of the reasons why child labor hasn’t been eradicated yet.
One carpet factory in Asia, children as young as five were found to work from 6 in the morning to 7 in the evening for as little as 20 cents a day. Shirts that cost $60 may actually cost 10 cents to make because of cheap child labor. Many child laborers are beaten and abused to do their work. Most children go unpaid everyday. Many employers make children work in their company because they are “ the cheapest to hire, the easiest to fire, and the least likely to protest.” When an adult’s payroll is cut they protest, but when a child’s payroll is cut they don’t protest. The child is scared and shy to speak up and help
According to the International Labour Organization, over 168 million children are child labourers even till now. Children as young as five work ten to twelve hours in factories, but only earning a few dollars, or even cents a day. If they ever try to escape, they are mutilated, raped or even murdered as a punishment. Not only are they treated like slaves, but more than half of the children work in dangerous places, such as gunpowder
It 's estimated that about 150 million children worldwide are engaged in child labor. Yet for each year a child attends school, their income average can increase
Society has long sought to find a definite difference between what is natural and what is too harsh for children. There are obvious cases of abuse and improper treatment of child laborers as there have been for years, and it is obvious that it is in no way beneficial to the children to work as they do. There then comes a question of whether or not something should be done and if so then what. Child labor is an issue rooted in the very idea that sometimes, the members of society have a responsibility to the rest of society to work for the good of those people who cannot work for themselves. The children involved never have and do not now possess the capability to seek change. This ability lies solely in the rest of society. The issue then becomes a question of how people respond to social responsibility. It is easy to separate oneself from social responsibilities as many people in the countries of global power, like the United States, do not have a real or serious problem of child labor. They are really above the problems of modern child labor as the only real contact that they have with it is when the major companies therein are accused of contributing to the hiring of unfairly compensated and over-worked child employees.
Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, once said, “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.” There is no denying that children are very precious and important in life. Unfortunately, some children are forced to grown up too soon and face dangerous lives. They are forced into child labor and are forced to grow up too soon; because of child labor many children, at a very young age, are damaged, their dignity is taken away from them and as a result this makes them objects of abuse. Many countries around the world have banned child labor and have labor laws to prevent companies from using and abusing children. Other countries, like Africa and the Philippians have been working