Child Labor Essay

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Child labor is the illegal use of children for business, warfare, etc. What this does is that it takes away children’s childhoods and their education. The conditions the child labors work are harsh and undesirable for anyone. Sadly the use of kids for work is a very prevalent thing in the world, and it’s mostly seen in Africa and the Middle East. Many laws have been passed worldwide to lessen the use of minors for work. There are many reasons why children work at such a young age and in such harsh conditions. Some reasons why are because they get kidnapped and they have no choice, or that his/her family needs extra financial aid and he/she needs to provide to their family. Child labor has been around since the late 1700’s (History of Child Labor). There are many factors that made child labor prevalent. One factor is culture. Certain cultures such as the old European culture suggests that child labor is good for building character and developing skills. Around the late 1700s child labor wasn’t uncommon to see in places like Europe. In that time children worked in factories or coal mines for long hours and little pay. In a factory the owner required kids to work 12-18 hours a day, 6 days a week to only get a Dollar. Which was outrageous because the kids were doing work that adults should be doing such as tending machines and lifting heavy loads. Also the conditions the children had to work in were terrible and as a result they usually became sick. This raises the question “why would someone hire kids to work under such conditions?” the answer to that is, is that sometimes the kids have no choice but to work because of their parents’ economic situations and choose to work instead of living on the streets. But also the owners of the... ... middle of paper ... ...ssed that protects children and teens below 18 from any form of economic exploitation and any work that is hazardous or that interferes with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child in any way. The law also forbids hiring anyone less than age of 18 for the military. And in Ghana an act was passed to ban kids to work if they are below the age of 13. Child labor is an issue that should matter to a student at Mamaroneck High School. It should matter to us because its human nature to care for others. And we should care about this matter because even though laws are being passed to prevent it, kids are still working underage. And we should care about them because those kids are being deprived of their childhoods, also child labor lessens the chance that the kids working will becoming healthy and responsible adults and even possible leaders of the world.

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