Modern Day Child Labour

1370 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theories of child labour

Modern Day Child Labour

While we, as Americans, are currently living in the most advanced civilization up to this time, we tend to disregard problems of exploitation and injustice to nations of lesser caliber. Luckily, we don't have to worry about the exploitation of ourchildren in factories and sweet shops laboring over machines for countless hours. We, in the United States, would never tolerate such conditions. For us, child labor is a practice that climaxed and phased away during and then after the industrial revolution. In 1998 as we approach the new millenium, child labor cannot still bea reality, or can it? Unfortunately, the employment and exploitation of children inthe work force is still alive and thriving. While this phenomenon is generally confined to third world developing nations, much of the responsibility for its existence falls to economicsuper powers, such as the United States, which supply demand for the cheaply produced goods. While our children are nestled away safely in their beds, other children half way around the world are working away to the hum of machinery well into the night.

With the development of a global market place, industry and manufacturing is no longer confined to its mother country. Worldwide demand has created an expanded market for competitive goods and services. Consequently, many large corporations have located their primary centers of production overseas in third world nations, which manufacture goods at bottom line costs. This demand for cheaply produced goods has also lead to a demand for laboring workers (Henderson 49). As a result, millions of children have become bonded laborers to fulfill this need for cheap labor. Essentially, the unknowing consumer fuels this pr...

... middle of paper ...

...edia coverage, the world is now aware. Fortunately, this awareness has also lead to action. Since the early nineties, many international organizations have put forth much effort to ensure that this injustice is amended. With enough hard work and dedication to the cause, the issue of child labor will hopefully be nonexistent in the new millenium, providing new hope and prospects for the children of the future.

Works Cited

- Buckley, Gail Lumet. "Fashion as Baal." America 17 Aug. 1996: 5.

- Henderson, David R. "The Case for Sweatshops." Fortune 28 Oct. 1996: 48-50.

- McCarthy, Abigail. "Pulling the Rug Out: Let's End Child Labor." Commonweal 22

Sept. 1995: 7-8.

- Senser, Robert A. "Danger! Children at Work." Commonweal 19 Aug. 1994: 12-14.

- Thullen, George. "Exploitation of Children." Unesco Courier Oct. 1994: 26-28.

Show More
Related

  • Human Rights in Ender´s Game by Orson Scott Card

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shah, Anup. "Child Labor." - Global Issues. Anup Shah, 17 July 2005. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • History Of Child Labor In The 1920s

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    Education | Global March Against Child Labour. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2017. (-- removed HTML --) .

    Read More

  • Sweat Shops

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    All of my life I have considered myself as a person who loves children. I enjoy playing with them, helping them, and just being around them. So when I first agreed with corporations who use child labor I shocked myself completely. After examining two articles; one “The Case for Sweatshops”, by David R. Henderson, and two “Sweatshops or a Shot at a Better Life”, by Cathy Young, I came to the conclusion that in some cases when young children work under proper conditions it can keep them out of the streets and be helpful to them and their families.

    Read More

  • Child Labor

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout time children have worked myriad hours in hazardous workplaces in order to make a few cents to a few dollars. This is known as child labor, where children are risking their lives daily for money. Today child labor continues to exist all over the world and even in the United States where children pick fruits and vegetables in difficult conditions. According to the article, “What is Child Labor”; it states that roughly 215 million children around the world are working between the ages of 5 and 17 in harmful workplaces. Child labor continues to exist because many families live in poverty and with more working hands there is an increase in income. Other families take their children to work in the fields because they have no access to childcare and extra money is beneficial to buy basic needs. Although there are laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, stronger enforcement is required because child labor not only exploits children but also has detrimental effects on a child’s health, education, and the people of the nation.

    Read More

  • Child Labor

    1869 Words  | 4 Pages

    Child Labour In the past few years, a great deal of attention has been drawn to the global problem of child labour. Virtually everyone is guilty of participating in this abusive practice through the purchase of goods made in across the globe, usually in poor, developing nations. This issue has been around for a great length of time but has come to the forefront recently because of reports that link well known American companies like Wal-Mart and Nike to the exploitation of children. Prior to this media attention, many Americans and other people in developed nation were blind to the reality of the oppressive conditions that are reality to many.

    Read More

  • What Are The Causes Of Child Labor Essay

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    We have all at one point seen or read an article of young girls and boys being abducted or simply forced into manual labor. Many reasons have been given as to why child labor occurs in these foreign countries such as: poverty, low pay, and unskilled work. These foreign companies or sweatshops find it easy to simply abduct poor and uneducated children, and force them into slavery for little to no pay and horrible working conditions. This is because there is greater demand for low skilled, and low cost labor that employers prefer to fill with child labor, instead of having to deal with more expensive and less flexible adult employees. Throughout the years there has been an increase in the supply of child labor mainly because of young kids in

    Read More

  • Child Labor Argumentative Essay

    1669 Words  | 4 Pages

    Think about the cotton in your shirt, the sugar in your coffee, and the shoes on your feet, all of which could be products of child labor. Child labor is a practice that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and includes over 200 million children worldwide who are involved in the production of goods for companies and industries willing to exploit these kids for profit. Although most countries have laws prohibiting child labor, a lack of funding and manpower means that these laws are rarely enforced on a large scale. However, even for a first-world country like the United States, that has a large number of state and federal law enforcement officers, child labor is still a problem because priority is given to crimes that are more violent or heinous. Child labor must be made a priority issue because it is a global plague whose victims are physically and psychologically scarred, lack a proper education, are impoverished, and whose children are doomed to the same fate if nothing changes.

    Read More

  • Child Labor Essay

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Child labor refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely or by requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work (International Labor Organization). Child labor has been a big problem ever since the Victorian Era. Many counties worldwide have used and still to this day use child labor. Though there are many laws that have been implemented against using children to work, many countries tend to ignore them. In my paper I will be discussing countries where child labor is present, push to stop child labor, companies that use child labor, the effects on children, and the reasons for child labor.

    Read More

  • Child Labor

    2143 Words  | 5 Pages

    Child Labor is not an isolated problem. The phenomenon of child labor is an effect of economic discrimination. In different parts of the world, at different stages of histories, laboring of child has been a part of economic life. More than 200 million children worldwide, some are as young as 4 and 5 years old, are slaves to the production line. These unfortunate children manufacture shoes, matches, clothing, rugs and countless other products that are flooding the American market and driving hard-working Americans out of jobs. These children worked long hours, were frequently beaten, and were paid a pittance. In 1979, a study shows more than 50 million children below the age of 16 were considered child labor (United Nation labors agency data). In 1998, according to the Campaign for Labor rights that is a NGO and United Nation Labor Agency, 250 million children around the world are working in farms, factories, and household. Some human rights experts indicate that there are as many as 400 million children under the age of 15 are performing forced labor either part or full-time under unsafe work environment. Based upon the needs of the situation, there are specific areas of the world where the practice of child labor is taking place. According to the journal written by Basu, Ashagrie gat...

    Read More

  • Nike Hiring Children Analysis

    417 Words  | 1 Pages

    When pressured to increase their profit margins, many companies look to child labor. Some companies and organizations work to stop such actions; however millions of children are still hired, says Mr. Dogar of the IMAC. Sadly, many of the children rely on their pay for their survival as well as their families. One might ask how long will and/or should this continue?

    Read More

  • Child Labour: NOT Always Wrong

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    So I believe that the issue of child labour is not simple. As Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report argued, children’s work needs to be seen as having two extremes. On one hand, there is the destructive or exploitative work and, on the other hand, there is beneficial work - promoting or enhancing children’s development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest. ‘And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s development.’ My firm belief is that there is a difference between child labour and child work and that in both cases the issue is whether or not the child is deliberately being exploited.

    Read More

  • Advancement Of Women

    877 Words  | 2 Pages

    In document UN/ CRC/ 531, analyzed through UNICEF, an estimated 25% of the world’s children (developing world) are in the web of child labor. To add to this, nearly 70% of all girl/female laborers go unregistered, often performing acts of prostitution and strenuous domestic housework. This form of unregistered work is dangerous to young girls because the employers often abuse their employees sexually and physically, as well as psychologically scarring them for years. This alarming fact can be attributed to the inequality of education given to young girls.

    Read More

  • ERADICATION OF CHILD LABOUR

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Registration No. F-509/Latur PEOPLE’S INSTITUTE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, (PIRD) AN APPEAL EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS PROGRAMME FOR ERADICATION OF CHILD LABOUR 1. Background of the Organisation : Inspired by the Nationwide call of Mahatma Gandhi ‘March towards Village,’ People’s Institute of Rural Development - PIRD was established in the year 1983. PIRD is working for landless labour, poor farmers, child labour & women groups related to rural development programmes.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay On Child Labor

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2008, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that nearly 158 million children worldwide from ages as young as five to the late teens are engaged in child labor (Source 1). Child labor can be described as work that is often considered illegal, hazardous, or extremely exploitative to children or keeps them from attending school (Source 2). Everyday, children are assigned demanding and dangerous positions that are extremely cruel. Such positions range from a wide variety of occupations from industrial to agricultural to even as horrifying as employment in the military as child soldiers. Despite attempts at the extermination of child labor, it still manages to remain one of the most expansive and cruel human rights violations

    Read More

  • Child Labour Poverty

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    Child labor is a problem worldwide, and poverty is the most common factor contributing to the use of child labor. There is an estimated 215 million children laborers worldwide, about 60% of children are child laborers. These child laborers produces around 150 billion each year of illegal profits. Child labor is considered employment that deprives a child of their childhood, or interferes with school. Also it’s considered something that is mentally, physically, socially, or morally dangerous and harmful. The highest number of child laborers are in the agriculture industry. They work in the fields under harsh conditions. About 114 (53%) million child laborers are in Asia and the Pacific area, 14 million (7%) in Latin America, and 65 million

    Read More

More about Modern Day Child Labour

Open Document