1. What do you think about child labor?

Child labor is work that children are not supposed to do because they are below the minimum age to perform the specific tasks, or if they have reached the minimum age, the work may be too dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them. ILO convention on the rights of the child is a legally binding international instrument that calls for all the countries that ratify the Convention to undertake a legal promise to stop child labor. A child can be said to be anyone below the age of 18 years; they have the right to be free from exploitation (Article 32), the right to education (Article 28), civil, political and social rights just like any other person. Child labor denies the child in question these rights and the opportunity to pursue actively their interest in academics, sports and any other fields of interest. A child is thus overburdened with the adult responsibility to fend for their families’ daily needs and to protect their interest as well. Governments and societies, in general, should not tolerate child labor as the effects are both physical and physiological. Child labor is a threat to industries, education, good citizenship and to the health of all the children forcefully put into work. He further points out that there are adverse effects to the health and welfare of children forced into these conditions.

2-Why is it tolerated in some cultures?

According to the UN report, the most common reason for child labor is poverty. Poor households rely mostly on the income provided by their working children to buy food for the family; this is relatively accurate and shared in poor countries. Most families spend all their incomes on food and most times the revenues of the parents are not sufficient to feed the whole family, children, therefore, work to supplement on this. Secondly, child labor is prevalent in some societies is because of education barriers. Most countries do not offer free education and its therefore becomes expensive and an extra burden to families already living below the poverty line, in rural areas mostly the majority of residents are uneducated and do not see the value of sending children to school instead they are encouraged to work and support the family in paying some of the expenses (Basu & Tzannatos, 2003). Thirdly, there is a high market demand for child labor in some countries. Some employers prefer child labor because they are cheaper than hiring adults and can be dismissed more easily if the market is troubled. Fourthly is the situation of income shock on a family brought about either by death, sudden unemployment of the household’s primary breadwinners or extreme emergencies situations where vast sums of an unavailable fund are required. The children, in this case, may be asked to work to help the family cope with the income shortage. Fifth, in some culture it’s the norm for children to work to supplement the family income or work to keep busy because they cannot afford to go to school and the few vacancies available are for the more educated ones. Lastly, there is the lack of proper structures, policies and legislative enforcement to protect child rights in some countries. This encourages the violation of children rights.

3-Would you purchase any product in the US knowing child labor was used in its production?

Child labor is mental, physically, socially, or morally dangerous and harmful to children and interferes with their education. It is work which deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity. It denies children the opportunity to attend school, in some instances being forced to combine school with long tiresome shifts eventually they opt out of school altogether. Consciously purchasing products made through child labor would mean an approval for the inhumane act and modern day slavery to these innocent children. The industries using child labor would continue to flourish and thrive, and more children would be recruited, eventually, the outcome would be an unstable society with vast population leaving below the poverty line.

References

Basu, K., & Tzannatos, Z. (2003). The Global Child Labor Problem: What do we know

and what can we do?. The world bank economic review, 17(2), 147-173.