Child Labor In Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card

Child labor is the use of children in industry or business, especially when illegal or considered inhumane. Children all over the world can be forced into indentured slavery, working for long hours with no pay. Some groups are taking action against this through legal action, while others are working to bring the problem to worldwide attention. In “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card, the author addresses the human rights issue known as child labor, which is still a problem in today’s world.

Firstly, there are many examples of child labor ranging from farming to factory work. For example, Around 14 million children have been subjected to child labor to produce different goods. Among these goods are carpets, clothing, soccer balls, bricks, and

fireworks. Furthermore, they are sent to mine for coal, gold, chrome, emeralds, and diamonds in some countries. Children have smaller hands and bellies, meaning they can do work without some of the tools adults need and can be given little food in return. Most of these countries are third-world, but not all of them are. These countries include but are not limited to: China, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and Peru.

As shown in “Ender’s Game,” another example of child labor is the use of children in the military.

Child labor, especially military service or farm work is hazardous and dangerous. In “Ender’s Game” this is common. Ender, who is six at the time of his military enlistment, is put through grueling training. Children have been severely harmed and even killed in the book. “It, too, found that laws on children working in agriculture are not as strict as other child labor regulations and that many child farmworkers are endangered by pesticides.” Although Ender had the choice to stay home or go to war, this was not true for all children. There were few, if any, laws against child labor. The children were pushed into a harmful and hostile environment with little to no protection and no one to fight for their rights. Children in the real world are thrown into similar environments when forced to work on farms. Even more degrading is the form of child labor known as prostitution. These children rarely have the choice, much like those in the military, and have been forced to sell their bodies to live. This issue has been around for many years, especially during the Industrial Revolution as more hands were needed to work the

machinery.

Be that as it may, some groups have started to take action against child labor. For instance, “The labor organization act has called for new international legal standards on child labor that would halt slavery and slavery-like practices, forced labor and debt bondage.” The act spoken of in the previous sentence seeks to abolish all forms of slavers, forced labor, etc. This means that both adults and children would be freed from these situations and would no longer be forced into indentured servitude or forced to work for little/no pay. Another organization calls for criminal penalties and works to prevent and rehabilitate victims of child labor. This could possibly stop child labor from occurring again and would give victims support.

To summarize, “Ender’s Game” brings attention to child labor, a dangerous human rights issue more common in third-world countries. Children in the assigned reading material and in the real world are being sent out to fight wars started by the adults. However, this practice is being challenged by men and women, and hopefully will end in the near future.