In Zaire, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many children wake up to go mining for diamonds instead of going to school. When we think of diamonds, we tend to think of a precious gift that is a rarity which is tended to be given in proposals or other special occasions. The truth is, diamonds are quite common in west and central Africa, but to profit more off these blood diamonds the industry markets them off to be much more rare than they actually are. Blood diamonds, why are they called blood diamonds? Possibly because they are made by the bloody hands of small children who are in physical, mental, and emotional harm from working this burdensome job every day.
One of the most detrimental things to the making of blood diamonds is the
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fact that the children aren’t able to go to school, therefore leaving them academically unable to make a better life for themselves. While some children choose to work, some are forced to, some children are orphans, and some children aren’t, all the children working are unable to go to school. In fact, children have been working in child labor for so long that a pattern has formulated. The children grow up in poor families and must work to support their families, and then they end up poor and their own children have to work to support their family and so on. However, putting all the children back in school is not as easy as it seems. For the most part, parents want their children to go to school and succeed but they can’t send them there, but they have to send them to work. While we classify sending children to work as ‘plain bad’ and ‘should be stopped’, the answer is much more complicated than simply ‘putting the children in school’. The poverty situation in these countries have gotten so bad in these African countries, that the option is basically to send your kids to school and starve, or have the children work and still be poor but not starve. Children see the situation as school or food, and because they don’t want to die, they pick food. It is unfortunate to see children in certain parts of Africa turning to diamond mining instead of schoolwork, but it is even more unfortunate to hear that the diamonds themselves are partially the reason why these families are so poor. The people in Africa tend to refer to minerals like diamonds as conflict minerals. The reason why they are called conflict minerals is the same reason why the people of these countries are so poor, they cause conflict. Many rebel groups go to war over the diamonds because controlling the mines brings more money to the groups. But what about the people? The people have to suffer from their towns being invaded by heavily armed rebels for their diamonds, so the government normally sends soldiers out to the towns in aid of keeping the diamond mines as their resource. The soldiers guarding the mines angers the rebels which propels the rebels into an even further war against the government. While the diamonds are not the reason for the war between the rebels and the government, they have only worsened and funded the situation. There are many groups in the congo that are fighting over who is in charge of the government, and to fund their fighting they take control of as many mines as they can. In spite of all of this going on, the only group that really seems to get attention is the poor people, but it is not common for one’s thoughts to go from the poor families to the invisible children of the families that have to work in order to eat and keep their family afloat. By ignoring these invisible children, not only do we deprive them of a proper education, but we put them in serious danger in their jobs.
In the diamond mines, children’s lives are constantly at risk due to falling rocks, explosions, hazardous chemicals, and the fact that their jobs were meant to be done by adults. The dangerous chemicals that the children inhale while working can possibly give them a painful disease called silicosis. 115 million children work in dangerous conditions and 215 million children work in unhealthy conditions. There are different ways that kids are in danger varying from their jobs. In the diamond mining industry, the children are in danger from falling rocks, chemicals, and many more dangerous things that could happen in a blink of an eye, but there is another type of problem coming from child labor. In workplaces like carpet weaving, that are mainly located in Asia, the children have to do the same repetitive action all day, while hunched over in chairs in musty, poorly lit warehouses. Not only does the bad air quality make the children prone to sickness, but doing the same motion all day in an uncomfortable position is bad for growth and normally gives the children severe developmental problems. All these problems are not what we think of when we purchase clothing or diamonds, yet to help these invisible children we must firstly make them visible.
It is obvious that child labor must be stopped. “What can we do to stop child labor?” is a very broad question that does not have a simple answer. Instead of looking for a broad answer that we can’t seem to find (and that may not exist), we need to start taking small steps each day to save these invisible
children.
Deep within African mines, elusive diamonds lay enveloped in the Earth’s crust. Possessing much influence, beauty, and tension, nature’s hardest known substance causes parallel occurrences of unity and destruction on opposite sides of the globe. Diamonds, derived from the Greek word "adamas", meaning invincible, are formed deep within the mantle, and are composed entirely from carbon. Moreover, only under tremendous amounts of heat and pressure can diamonds form into their preliminary crystal state. In fact, diamonds are formed approximately 150km- 200km below the surface and at radical temperatures ranging from 900-1300 C°. When these extremes meet, carbon atoms are forced together creating diamond crystals. Yet how do these gems, ranking a ten on Moh’s hardness scale, impact the individual lives of millions of people besides coaxing a squeal out of brides-to-be? These colorless, yellow, brown, green, blue, reddish, pink, grey and black minerals are gorgeous in their cut state, but how are these otherwise dull gems recognized and harvested? Furthermore, how and why is bloodshed and violence caused over diamonds in Africa, the supplier of approximately 65% of the world’s diamonds? (Bertoni) The environmental, social, and economic impact of harvesting, transporting, and processing diamonds is crucial because contrary to popular belief, much blood has been spilled over first-world “bling”.
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.
Many kids are involved with child labor but many people don’t even see past their clothes. If you take the time to read or care about the children's health or life, kids wouldn't be working in these unsafe factories and tobacco fields. No matter what it is us that could be able to stop child labor, no matter if it is a factory owner or a tobacco farmer, anyone can stop child labor. They just need to try. Child labor is dangerous, if you get a good childhood so do
In “ “Blood Diamonds” and Africa’s Armed Conflicts in the Post – Cold War Era, “ Orogun (2004) said that diamonds are referring as “clean stones”. This article explains about the black market is really happening in African. I am using this article to support how the black market of diamond trades is still not regulated, and they defined it as “licit” trade.
Want to know how many deaths does Child labor cause throughout the whole year? Because of child labor, there are over 2.7 million deaths every year! Child labor is a definite human rights violation which is included in both factories and farms. There they are overworked, underfed, and have no medical attention. The use of children for child labor is gross to even think about and is a major human rights issue. First of all, child labor should not just be used for their size to work in factories. Secondly, they should not be the victims to the harmful pesticides and chemicals sprayed over the field to help the crops.
It’s hard to imagine that a mineral could be fueling wars and funding corrupt governments. This mineral can be smuggled undetected across countries in a coat pocket, then be sold for vast amounts of money. This mineral is used in power tools, parts of x-ray machines, and microchips but mostly jewelry. Once considered the ultimate symbol of love, the diamond has a darker story. "Blood" diamonds or "conflict" diamonds are those mined, polished, or traded in areas of the world where the rule of law does not exist. They often originate in war-torn countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire were rebels use these gems to fund genocide or other questionable objectives. Even with a system known as the Kimberly process which tracks diamonds to prevent trade of these illicit gems, infractions continue as the process is seriously flawed. The continuation of the blood diamond trade is inhuman, and unethical, and in order to cease this illicit trade further action to redefine a conflict diamond, as well as reform to the diamond certification prosess is nessasary.
Africa is commonly referred to as "The Heart of the World"; if this were interpreted literally our heart has a serious condition that’s not receiving the attention it so desperately deserves. The purpose of blood diamonds is simple; they’re used as currency to buy warring factions and warlords armaments and fuel civil wars in unstable countries as well as continued guerrilla tyranny throughout countries like Angola and more famously Sierra Leone. When addressing the issue of blood diamonds mined from Sierra Leone, understanding the country’s geography, civil and political aspects are crucial. Blood diamonds often have a misconstrued meaning, and the definition of what they are requires a clear explanation. The brutal process of acquiring the diamonds begins with the actions of a greed driven rebel, to diamond company executives trying to extend their control in the international diamond market. Even with United Nations implementing the Kimberly process there are a few weak links in the chain that make it very easy to bypass the laws that prohibit the purchasing of conflict diamonds. Lastly, workers forced into slavery, most often children, are subject to horrid working conditions and extreme abuse. The issue of Blood diamonds is a complicated subject involving civil war and forced labor that leaves an ominous cloud of transgression over Sierra Leone, as well as numerous other diamond rich countries.
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
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.
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.
“No pressure no diamonds.” These were the words from Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish Philosopher, who had the simplest and most accurate quote relating to my topic of blood diamonds. This quote was referring to the scientific way to produce diamonds and the fact that pressure produces the best work out of people. Diamonds are made under pressure, and people need pressure to produce their best results. However, in the case of Sierra Leone, there is a great amount of pressure from the time a diamond is found in a small river, to the time it is put on someone’s finger. A blood diamond, or a conflict diamond is a diamond that is mined in a place of conflict. These precious stones are used to finance a rebellion, and have several other detrimental causes to their country. In many African countries, blood diamonds are a major problem; Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivorie, and Angola have all had civil wars in which control of the diamond trade was the main cause. This research paper is based on the problems that blood diamonds bring to Sierra Leone; the uprising of the RUF and civil war that tarnished the government and economy and allowed human rights to be violated.
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...
Over 140,000 carats of diamonds have been smuggled out of the Central African Republic as of 2014,and millions have died due to the fighting over these diamonds(Baker 3).Despite these facts, people still disagree that conflict diamonds are considered negligent or completely bad. In fact, some may think that conflict diamonds do more good than harm because it “helps” the diamond miners. These miners are working, getting pain, although it is a small amount of pay, and staying out of trouble. They are not being rebels killing innocent people and they are learning more about this carbon solid rock.
The documentary follows the bloody past of the blood diamond, otherwise known as the traffic and conflict diamonds. These diamonds are nicknamed blood diamonds due to the amount of people murdered and innocent blood shed over groups wanting to get their hands on these rocks. The documentary shows us just how horrifying these beautiful gems, the symbols of wealth and love, are obtained. Many people, of any age, out in the hot sun, forced to work and dig just to find a few diamonds buried deep in the earth. Men, women, and even children were all forced at gunpoint by rebels to dig; dig until they found a sufficient amount of the stones these evil groups so desperately sought.
According to UNICEF, there are an estimated one hundred and fifty eight million children aged five to fourteen in child labour worldwide. Millions of children are engaged in dangerous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, working as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations. If there is nothing wrong with child labour, then why is the exploitation so secret? Do you ever wonder when you go into certain shops how a handmade t-shirt can be so cheap? Or on the other hand, products which are sold to us at extremely high prices and we assume...