Mangar 1

Manisha Mangar

Ban A. Jorgensen

English 1010

August 3, 2017

Child Labor

Child labor is when a child under the legal working age is made to do the work, that may

interrupt their education or social development.

Some countries are diminishing their potential and destroying the future of their country

just for profit by illegally employing

kids. Protecting children from child

abuse is the obligation of each and every

citizen living in a country. It is not only

the responsibility of the government, but

it should also be the responsibility of the

parents, adults, and social organizations.

Child labor should be banned

internationally because it is one of the gravest problems affecting the world. It harms the

physical and mental development of children. Youth risk their lives, are deprived of freedom and

are uneducated, which is the result been manipulation.

When the Industrial Revolution started in the late 1800s in the U.S., the use of child

workers began to rise. There were many reasons why child labor started. Young people are easier
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to control and need less, whereas, adults can go on strikes, and fight back. Another reason was

that children did not have to be paid as much. Also, some had to support their family for survival

(Suchman 5). According to Monthly Labor Review, children usually worked in mines, glass

factories, canneries, home industries, and textile mills (Suchman 4). Most of the places were

filled with hazards that can kill them. Many youths were being beaten by their factory owners.

Young people even worked for free, and if they tried to escape or run away, they would be

whipped on their lower legs with an iron stick. A lot of children that worked werent paid

anything because they were orphans who had nowhere to go (Suchman 2).

A child with an education was very rare during the 1900s. They didnt have much of a

choice because parents depended on their income. Kids had to work so much that they didnt

have time for school. Nobody realized back then that youth not going to school would affect

future generations. Without an education, the young people were less likely to be able to have a

job that makes enough money to get out of poverty. The kids worked for about 12 hours a day, 6

days a week at low wages, sometimes nothing (Schuman 5).

We now know in the U.S. that child labor laws have affected many youths today by

giving the childrens rights, but many other countries Young people are found working

underage for low wages. According to The United Nations International Children's Emergency

Fund (UNICEF), an estimated 246 million children internationally are engaged in a labor.

Nearly 19 percent of children work in hazardous conditions in the Asia and Pacific region,

including working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with

dangerous machinery (UNICEF Factsheet 1). Saharan Africa has an approximate of 48 million

child workers. More than 51 percent of children in Latin America, the Caribbean, Middle East,
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and the North Africa are found working everywhere, but they are invisible laboring behind the

walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations (UNICEF Factsheet 1). Millions of girls

work as domestic servants and in unpaid households. Millions of others work under horrific

circumstances and they are possibly trafficked (1.2 million), or other forms of slavery (5.7

million), recruited as child soldiers in armed conflict (300,000) in Asia, South Africa, the Middle

East, and North Africa region (UNICEF Factsheet 1). This proves that child labor still exists as

a different form of slavery today.

Youth who has been working for years has been one of the biggest issues of social

development. According to Gordon Brown, there are approximately 215 million children

between the ages of 5 and 17 that currently work under conditions that are considered illegal,

hazardous, or extremely exploitative (Brown 4). Underage children work at all sorts of jobs

around the world, usually because they and their families are extremely poor (Brown 4). Large

numbers of children work in commercial agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining, and

domestic service. Some children work in illegal activities like the drug trade and prostitution or

other harmful activities such as serving as soldiers (Brown 5). These children do not have basic

rights like access to school or health care which proves that it can negatively impact their health

physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Speaking from a practical point of view, some children cannot afford to go to school

because their families do not have money to pay for their tuition fees or because they are forced

not to attend school. Instead, they have to work to feed themselves and their families.

In order to eliminate the social issue of child oppression, there needs to be an effective

solution to save the future of any developing country and their children. The following solution
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should be implemented. All girls and boys should be given first priority by their parents to

receive proper and regular education from their early childhood to their adulthood. Parents

should take on the responsibility of their family by letting their kids be educated. Additionally,

according to Pew Research, 65 percent of the parents said that they are willing to do anything

when it comes to involvement in their childrens education. 59 percent of households say that

both father and mother share the tasks equally when it comes to house chores and

responsibilities, and about 61 percent share the tasks of disciplining and playing or 64 percent are

doing activities with the kids (Raising Kids). This shows that many families care about their

children's rights and shows that parents have a strong desire for their child to get an education, as

well as love and care from their parents.

Children should be provided with an education. Due to the high level of poverty and poor

schooling opportunities for children, they never get a chance to make their life bright. They are

spending their lives in complete darkness without the light of education. Some households may

argue that child labor shouldn't be banned because many households believe that sending their

child to work is best for the family in the present moment rather than sending them to school.

According to the UNICEF, more than 168 million children worldwide, of which children ages

from 5 to 17, are working in developing countries (UNICEF Child 3), and most of the children

are found doing household chores and many were employed by their own parents instead of

being in school (UNICEF Child 8). Additionally, according to UNICEF, parents living under

the poverty line are unable to afford the educational expenses of their kids because they are

unable to earn enough money for their family to survive. Therefore, they choose to involve their

kids in hard work to fulfill their financial needs instead of sending them to school (UNICEF
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Child 8). However, parents can get full-time jobs, second jobs, and get help from the

government, and other organizations in society. Also, rich people should help poor people so that

all children can get required things like food, clothing, and proper education from their early

childhood. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) works in most

countries such as India, China, Europe, Africa, and Middle East to help the worlds poorest

people not only raise themselves from hunger and poverty but also to improve their child's

education, global health, and agriculture development.

Breaking the laws relating to child labour gives way to an increase in child labor in any

developing country. There should be more effective and strict government laws against underage

worker in order to prevent children from working at a young age. For example, according to the

U.S. Department of Labor states: The main law regulating child labor in the United States is the

Fair Labor Standard Act. For non-agricultural jobs, children under 14 may not be employed,

children between 16-18 may be employed for unlimited hours in a non-hazardous occupation

(5). Child labor should be abolished by the government of all the countries, along with heavy

charges to make the offender think twice. To illustrate, according to the U.S Department of

Labor, if the offender is caught breaking the law, then the minimum imprisonment would be one

year and could extend to three years, and the violator fined up to $10,000 (28).

The government should also provide more employment opportunities for adults in order

to overcome the problem of poverty and child labor. For example, the number of unemployed

people around the world reached an estimated 201.8 million in 2013, according to the Sam

Frizell. If child workers are replaced by adult workers the adults will increase their employment

rate and young people will be free from child labor.

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Child labor must be banned because child oppression is the biggest problem affecting the

growth and development of developing countries as well as the development of children. This

issue needs to be solved urgently with the real world solutions that criminal should be jailed,

fine, loss of licenses or business and community service for kids. Also, it needs the effective

action by the government to completely end child labors roots in poverty. Kids should not be

forced by their parents for their economic benefit. Youth are the biggest responsibility of all

adults and they should not be used in a negative way. Child labor laws gave youth a chance

today to have a childhood and to spend time with their parents. So think about the child, your

child! Would you like to see your children becoming a victim of child labor?
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Works Cited

"Child Labor Provisions for Nonagricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act."

U.S. Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division - Child Labor Provisions for

Nonagricultural Occupations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act. U. S. Department of

Labor Wage and Hour Division Child Labor, Feb. 2013. Web. 14 July 2017

"Child Labor Laws and Enforcement." N.p., Nov. 2000. Web. 23 July 2017.

"Child Labour and UNICEF in Action: Children at the Centre." N.p., May 2014. Web. 18 July

2017.

Brown, Gordon. "Child Labor & Educational Disadvantage Breaking the Link, Building

Opportunity." N.p., 2011. Web. 18 July 2017.

"Save The Children' Receives $50 Million Grant From The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dianne Sherman, n.d. Web. 26 July 2017.

"Raising Kids and Running a Household: How Working Parents Share the Load." Pew Research

Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project. Pew Research Center, 04 Nov. 2015.

Web. 06 July 2017.

Sam Frizell, U.N. Says Over 200 Million Unemployed Worldwide, Time, January 20, 2014.

Schuman, Michael.

"Https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/history-of-child-labor-in-the-united-states-p

art-1.htm." Monthly Labor Review (2017): 2-5. Web

The end of child labor: Millions of voices, one common hope, International Labour

Organization, December 03, 2007. Accessed on July 7, 2017.

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UNICEF. Factsheet: Child Labor. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 July 2017.

<https://www.unicef.org/protection/files/child_labour.pdf>.

[www.michaelherringdesign.com], Michael Herring. "Welcome to the Child Labor Public

Education Project." The Child Labor Education Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2017.