Day Two: Freeing Children from Modern Day Slavery

"There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace." -- Kofi Annan

Facts About Child Labor

•  215 million illegal child laborers
• 115 million children in the worst forms of child labor
• Estimated 300,000 child soldiers in the world
• 8.4 million children are in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities
• Child domestic work in the houses of others is thought to be the single largest employer of girls worldwide

What Is Child Labor?

• Legal child labor is when a child under the age of fifteen works for their family or a family friend. The work they do must also not keep them out of school, or be dangerous physically, psychologically, etc.Legal child labor is not the issue we are concerned with.
• Illegal child labor is any labor by children under 15 that places children in conditions that are hazardous and harmful to their health, education, personal and social development, and even their lives. Included in illegal child labor is "the worst forms of child labor."

At age twelve Craig Kielbuger, founder of Free the Children, traveled to India to see child labor first hand. Check out the video above to see a clip from his experiences.

The worst forms of child labor is when children are used for dangerous labor, sexual labor, or when children are treated as slave laborers, including:

• Child soldiers
• Prostitution
• Sexual exploitation of children
• Sugar Cain workers
• Sweatshop laborers
• Bonded Labor
• Forced Labor
• Any work having to do with war

How does this happen?
The answer is most likely poverty. The families and communities of these child laborers are almost always in extreme poverty.  This poverty leads both parents and children to make difficult life or death choices.  Sometimes parents must sell their children into debt bondage in order to have enough money to eat.  When recruiters come to a poor village or town promising good work for children, the parents often know it might not be true, but believe that any life will be better for them then the life can provide.  Some of these children are orphans, due to poverty related deaths, with no one to provide for them they have no choice but to join the force of mistreated child laborers.  Children in areas with heavy war and child soldiers see so much killing and violence around them many of them will volunteer as a way for protection.  And in some cases children are out stolen and forced into child labor.

Why Children?

• easier to boss around and manipulate 
• more can be packed into smaller places
• smaller hands for things such as sewing, weaving, operating machinery, picking cocoa
• higher energy
• high supply
• cheaper to feed and house

What Is the Answer?

Although there are many ways to stand against child labor such as not buying products that are made in sweatshops, or chocolate that was made by companies who may employ children, the best way that children will come out of child labor is through education. Education allows children to break the cycle of poverty in their families and communities. Support universal education and laws against the use of child labor.

What Can You Do?

• Spread awareness and spread the word!Tell your friends about child labor and the problems surrounding child labor for millions of children around the world.
• Consume wisely! Many people do not realize that the products we buy like Nike shoes are connected to things such as child labor in sweatshops or children picking cocoa for our Hershey's bars. Support businesses that are Fair Trade Certified or can prove that they are sweat-free and ethical.
• Learn more! Below are great resources to learn more about child labor and ethical consuming. 
  
  Fact Sheet About Child Labor
  
  All about Fair Trade
  
  Stories of Child Laborers
  
  UNICEF Child Labor

This blog was written for Child Rights Awareness Week at BSU by Josh Paulson, FTC Member.

 

Check back tomorrow to learn about another child rights issue and how you can help!

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