Child Labor Today
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| This young boy is a mill worker in the United States, 1918. |
Can you believe that child labor still exists today? In 2008, there were approximately 215 million child laborers! I was flabbergasted to find out that there is still child labor to this extent in this generation we are in now! Child Labor is basically utilizing children from ages five to fourteen to do hard, dangerous work that can cause many injuries and health problems, both physically and mentally. This is a terrible issue that children are facing today and this issue needs attention. In addition to that, their payments are very low. Child labor deprives children from getting their education like they are supposed to. It also exceeds children's working hours. This benefited the factory owners but not the children. (1)
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| India is the second highest place known for child labor. |
South Asia is nominated as the child labor hot spot. Nearly 114 million child laborers are in Asia and the Pacific. Teenage boys sew beads and sequins onto saris and shawls at a workshop in India. The boys often work from six in the morning until two the next morning, and some of them sleep on the floor between shifts. The workers send the money that they earn back to their families. The Philippines also has child labor. The children worked in dangerous jobs like fireworks production, deep sea mining and fishing. In Mongolia today, child labor has increased and children are working in gold, coal and mineral mines. There are over 14 million child labors in Latin America and the Caribbean. Over 22 million are in other regions, which includes the Middle East and North Africa, the developed countries and the former transition economies of Eastern Europe and Asia. (2)
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| Children had to work in dangerous factories as shown and they had to work excessively for long hours without breaks. |
Causes of child labor is generally speaking, has to do with lack of money, and supplies. Child labor occurs because of natural disasters or the families inability to pay for taxes, rent and etc. Most families who cannot support their children going to school will often send them to work to earn money for them. Natural disasters often occur and many of the population lose their family members and everything they have which leads to a dysfunctional household and in need of money and support so they are forced to send their children to work to earn a living for themselves. For example, in Mongolia, where there was only a small percentage of child labor but now it has increased because of the winter storms that happened a few years ago that killed millions of livestock. Therefore, making it hard for families to do herding jobs and thus leading to them forcing their children to go to work instead of attaining an education. Mostly, the reason for child labor to happen is because of people's poor conditions and lack of money and in need of extra income. (3)
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| This is a protest by Bachpan Bachao Andolan. This is a friendly organization of India working to end Child labor. |
However, there is still a chance for child labor to end. If everyone were to participate and contribute, then we can all end child labor. Young people worldwide are speaking out against child labor and taking action to raise further awareness of this issue. They are spreading knowledge among people about child labor and act as a voice for those children whose rights are not respected and bringing attention to the importance of this issue so they can act urgently to protect children in danger and deprived freedom. The young people are here to inspire others on the topic of demolishing child labor. A youth-orientated version of Convention No. 182 against the worst forms of child labor has been developed in order to help make people aware that child labor is a violation of human rights hindering children’s development, and learning. Action must be taken to solve this problem. The video “Let children bloom” produced on the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labor 2009 and the 10th anniversary of Convention No. 182, highlights the role of young people in the campaign and calls for an end to child labor. With this, child labor can be halted and children will gain back their rights and education. (4)
Resources:
1. http://www.slideshare.net/AdityaKumar33/ppt-on-child-labour#btnNext
2. http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/vitalstats.shtml
3. http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/children/index.shtml
4. http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Campaignandadvocacy/Youthinaction/lang--en/index.htm
