ChildLabor

What's Really Going On!



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= 1 ) PROOF OF EXISTENCE =

Written by Britntie Schreiber

Children who are often put into situations where they are being used as child labor often have no choice as to work or education. “I didn't have a choice. Work was the only option. I cannot deny that I would like to be at a school, learning like other children. But I know the responsibility that I have to carry,” (“Child”) says Mahmoud al-Obaidi a young boy who lives in Iraq.I feel bad for all the children that have no choice of work or education. I believe that there are a lot of children in the US who take their education for granted. “ Over a million of the students who enter ninth grade each fall fail to graduate with their peers four years later. In fact, about seven thousand students drop out every school day.” (“High”) I don’t think it is fair that children in America get so many great things handed to them every day and they cease to use the opportunity wisely. While there are children in only countries longing to have a good education but have no chance in doing so being the fact that they must work with in some cases no other options available. The problem of child labor doesn’t just lie in Iraq it’s everywhere but it is predominate throughout Asia regions. In Bangladesh child labor is considered illegal but that doesn’t stop the people of the country from using it. When the band of child labor began in Bangladesh they were forced to fire many of their workers mostly women under the age of 14. As they left the working industry they were not familiar with school so most them stayed unemployed and moneyless. Most young girls tried to find jobs but those who couldn’t turned to street hustling and prostitution. (“Child”) There are also people in Pakistan who have often tried to stop child labor by finding places that use children as workers. Though it is not as easy as it seems since it is illegal in most countries to use child labor. Most company or factory owners will not admit to using child labor because they do not want to get in trouble with their government. (Rizwan) They will try and so anything so that people will not find out about them using child labor and report. In some instances people are even paid “under the table”. It may seem bad that people around the world are you using children as there “cheap” source of labor there are people still trying to help these children to regain their childhood. Some people claim that children dropping out and going into the work field is due to the high price of education in certain countries. While others say it is due to children’s adult family members not being able or capable to find a job. (Veernath)

= 2 ) CAUSES =

Written by Ryan Malpaya The Roots of Child Labor People come across our path everyday filling our lives with encounters from different cultures, worldviews, and traditions. Child labor is defined as children under 15 who work for commercial purpose (“Abusive”). To aware global citizens of the growth of child labor, one must understand its causing factors, which include poverty, family tradition, and survival of a country. In a society of the latest technology, many skip the simple tags of their clothing. Often, consumers look at the price of the item, and not the cost of the lives it took to manufacture it (“Abusive”). Child labor is a common practice around the globe. Although it is widely used, it comes down to a tough foundation. According to research from an editor, Virginia Postrel, poverty is the leading cause of the issue, not tradition. She believes that poverty has established social order through child labor. She further writes that poverty entangles poor families and force children to become workers and it continues to grow. Child labor tends to be highest in countries with the “highest illiteracy rates, lowest school enrollments, and worst nutritional deficiencies” (“Abusive”). In a research study on Cambodia, issues of child labor were discussed in a survey done by the International Labour Force:

Results from the Cambodia Child Labour Survey (IPEC/SIMPOC, 2001) indicate that 45 per cent (0.78 million) of boys and 44.6 per cent (0.74 million) of girls aged 5-14 work, resulting in 44.8 per cent (1.52 million) of all children in that age group being economically active. Approximately 8.6 per cent (0.29 million) of children in that bracket participate in the labour force without attending school. (International) When times get harder, families must make even harder decisions in order to support their families. Poverty has dramatically caused child labor into existence.

Secondly, tradition and family appear as factors in this issue. In developing countries, it is plainly the norm of their culture. With 250 million child laborers in the world, Asia makes up more than 60% (“Abusive”). Asia has a traditional work ethic that passes down from generation to generation that make child laboring okay. For example, families who live on plantations use their children to collect the crops. Nearly 89 percent of child laborers in Cambodia are unpaid family workers, and 77 percent of child laborers work in agriculture (International). The parents of these child laborers justify their actions by stating that their parents did the same. However, as family wages start to fall, it is clear that children will join the work force (Postrel). According to the __International__ Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences __, child labor molds “public perceptions and values” of a society. As long as the community morally believes it is fine, child laboring will proceed. __

A third factor is the need for a country to survive. Developing countries do not have the necessary machines and workers to carry out economic activities. In the __International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences__, these countries depend on child labor. Therefore, developing countries appeal to children to take on ‘delicate’ jobs in order to produce more products. In places like Cambodia and the Philippines, where about 30 percent of the population are below the ages of 15, companies target the younger generation into the work force (International). Often times, these companies gathering young workers take advantage of the situation. The inadequate equipment and poor conditions can literally end the lives of these working children. For a young one, earning wages becomes truly burdensome. Child laborers receive small wages for their long laboring and hard-working hours (“Abusive”). The country realizes that maintaining its stability takes drastic measures. It simply does not feel the demand to stop because the economy circulates. Companies also speak of child labor as “healthy for motivation and socialization” (“Child”), but hardly ever meet the standards. Failure in nourishing the children results in a bigger lost than gain. Child labor sneaks up from behind the scenes, when people regularly overlook the problem.

= 3 ) EFFECTS =

Written by Clifton Eure

Sweat drops off the face of a worker only because the sun and struggle has beaten him down. About 45% of these workers shouldn’t be in struggling situations, because these workers are children. Children forced into labor for economic gain. Many societies expect children to do a type of work and it’s important to differentiate between the idea of child work and child labor. Child work isn’t harmful to children. Child labor is work which may be hazardous. (Natalie Redstone) The child itself is a significant process in rebuilding generations for the present and future, but this gift from god is pushed to such an extent so afar that being a child can become the worst part in your life. Child labor has many devastating impacts on children's development and well-being. It is very detrimental to the victim’s health obviously when being forced into commercial sexual exploitation. Some adults use the children to commit crimes also. Globally as many as one in six children between the ages of 5 and 17, a total of 218 million, are involved in some form of exploitative labor. (Natalie Redstone) In specific places like sub Saharan Africa the ratio is almost one in three children are affected, the only continent where child labor is actually increasing. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children under the age of 18 are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in armed conflicts. ( " [|Youth Worldwide Join in Call to Stop Use of Child Soldiers.] “) According to Human Rights Watch, these include children in countries whose governments signed the treaty but still use children in their armed forces or support armed groups that recruit children in their territories or neighboring states. With child labor I tended to focus on the Asian countries and some of the effects it held because of child labor. They include the spread of HIV Aids throughout the borders and deserting children of all ages to mingle with the dangers of the night. Laos is unfortunately a great candidate of these acts. The families of poverty are oppressed to disease and unstable housing. Majority of these mothers are workers of prostitution and contracted the AIDS virus. This outcome orphans children at ages as early as only a couple of months. Some of these children don’t survive that long only because they might have contracted the virus. The children who do live become victims of kidnapping and placed in working homes. An enslaved motherless hungry child is what results from this virus.This places children everywhere under an invisible shackle system that only some can see.

= 4 ) FUTURE =



The future becomes worse and worse if people do not take action. Places in the present cannot the survive the limitless destruction of poverty. Child labor will push out families and countries try to enforce children to work, but generations will be lost. Innocent lives work and hope to find something more. Work is their lives. Factories are their playgrounds. Garbage cans are homes as children are simply searching for survival. Where was everyone at? Mankind has stood still and turned its back on the ones that had no chance to begin with. It is one horrible sight to picture if no one takes charge.

Nations crumble and crime rises, and these child laborers become imprisoned with the daily routine. They cannot make it one more day working as machines and enduring intense labor. Poisoned by the struggles, it displays the future with the same image: hopeless. Mankind must realize that there is a need, and they must not wait for the worst to happen.

= 5 ) SOLUTIONS =

Written by Deborah Soler 5 Point Solutions to Child Labor __Increased family incomes__ — try to create jobs so that parents can work and provide for family. __Education__ — helps children learn skills that will help them earn a living as they get older. __Social services__ — that help children and families survive crises, such as disease, or loss of home and shelter __Family control of fertility__ — so that families are not burdened by children __The International Labor Organization__ — or the ILO for short, has created several conventions that any of its 175 members can adopt. —discusses the minimum age for employment for children, but several exceptions involving developing (third-world) countries, and light work also exist in the convention. —discusses the worst forms of child labor and hazardous activities for children.

__CREDITS: WORKS CITED__

" 225,000 Haitian Kids Forced to Work as Unpaid Domestic Servants; Subjected to Cruelty, Abuse. " Health & Medicine Week (Jan 4, 2010) 1984. __Global Issues In Context__. Gale. Tallwood High School. 11 Jan. 2010.

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"Africa Feature: Somali children working to survive; by Abdurrahman Warsameh." __Xinhua News Agency__ (March 1, 2008) __Global Issues In Context__. Gale. Tallwood High School. 11 Jan. 2010.

"Child Labor." __International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.__ Ed. William Darity, Jr. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 508-510. Gale. Tallwood High School. 6 Jan. 2010

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Postrel, Virginia. "Research Changes Ideas About Children and Work." __The New York Times__ Business/Financial Desk: C2(L) __Global Issues in Context.__ Gale. Tallwood High School. 6 Jan. 2010. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Redstone, Natalie. " Protecting children from child labour. " Sister Namibia 20.1 (March 2008) 10(3). __Global Issues In Context__. Gale. Tallwood High School. 11 Jan. 2010.

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Youth Worldwide Join in Call to Stop Use of Child Soldiers. " Africa News Service (Feb 19, 2009) __Global Issues In Context__. Gale. Tallwood High School. 15 Jan. 2010.