Child labor speech
Society has idealized children as many things. Some people view children as young individuals… educated, happy, healthy, and ready to become a responsible adult. Others view children as easy ways of production. Child labor is defined as work that hurts children, physically, mentally, socially, deprives them of compulsory education, and negatively impacts their morals. This happens all over the world. Everyone hates chores, right? Even if you don’t want to, you do those chores because you are responsible. Imagine doing 100x of those chores. You don’t want to do it but you have to, so you stay up all night. This is something similar to what a child laborer feels on a daily basis. The aim of the Freedom Fighters is to promote awareness of the impact of child labor to children, to help reduce child labor and to help former child laborers. We will be focusing on the issues of child labor in India, but also informing the public on worldwide child labor, and how everyday people can help.
So what causes this terrible aspect of humanity? The answer is simple: poverty and limited education available. In most 3rd world countries, the general population is very poor and has to do everything possible to get a few pieces of bread and cup of water, barely enough to get through the day. Therefore, a lot of families sell their children to factories where they will get paid a small amount, if anything, just enough to support their families. Another cause of child labor is the limited amount of compulsory education available to children in developing countries. Most of the kids subjected to child labor have never heard of or seen a school house, because their families cannot afford school. Not going to school also limits the amount of future opportunities a child has in his adult life. “In 2006, approximately 75 million children were not in school” (Causes of Child Labor-The Child Labor Education Project). This statistic is absolutely astonishing! We, as children here at Edgemont, think that it is very easy for a child to go to school. Actually, this is not at all true. “A 2009 report by the United Nations estimated that achieving universal education for the world’s children would cost $10-30 billion”(Causes of Child Labor- The Child Labor Education Project). This amount is a very large sum, which is hard to provide.
Child laborers are provided with terrible working conditions. They are given the most dangerous jobs, and are paid very little for their effort. Since no adult would want to spend 12 hours a day at a burning furnace, or mixing the gunpowder for firecrackers. In fact“… more than twenty thousand children die in work related accidents each year”(Gale Student Resources in Context, 2012 Child Labor). Just imagine that twenty thousand young innocent kids never reach adulthood, and do not get to do anything with their lives.
Child hood is very precious, it effects the rest of our lives. A positive childhood helps that child become a responsible adult, and a negative childhood might result in a troubled, and irresponsible adult. Child labor ruins a childhood with suffering because it affects them negatively physically and mentally. Some physical effects of what child labor leaves behind include developmental disorders, stunted growth, and other problems. Child labor also leaves behind psychosocial effects. Some effects are damaged social and educational development, substance abuse, mood problems like aggression, traumatic effects, and socioeconomic effects. This is why our group wants to support rehab faculties for former child laborers, in addition to reducing the number of child laborers in India. The rehabilitation centers can help the former child laborers, to lead a good life onwards. So there will be a bright future for them.
India, with the largest demographic of child laborers, has 12.59 million children under labor as the present time. India also has lots of poverty and a major lack of social security which are the main causes of child labor, furthermore in Andhra Pradesh 400,000 children are forced into child labor, most of which are 7-14 year old girls that toil in the fields for roughly 14-16 hours a day. However others work in urban areas, specifically blacksmiths, with the same amount of labor, for example “Dilip, 10, is a model employee. He toils for more than 12 hours a day beside a furnace at a metalworking factory on the outskirts of the Indian city Varanasi. Blackened by coal dust and baked by constant furnace blasts, Dilip is nonetheless appreciated. ‘He is a good worker, ‘attests Arjun, his employer. “We pay him well to keep him here.” Dilip earns thirty cents a day.” This tragic tale happens to millions of children in India; however organizations like ours are trying to resolve this by donating money in order to sponsor other organizations.
Though India is just starting to resolve the child labor crisis it still hasn’t been fully resolved, certain members in our group (Nisha, Sidarth) have seen child labor first hand in India. (Nisha) I was driving with my friend in India when I saw children carrying buckets of water on their heads. I asked my mother if it was legal for five or six year olds to work. She then told me that those children were probably 12 or 13 because they’re starved and therefore prevented from growing. Some other members of our group have also experienced these horrible tragedies for example Sidarth has seen children laying on the streets with one or more limbs missing in order to receive begging money for their owners. He has also seen children selling several trinkets of the side of the road. However these cases are soon to be resolved and eventually India will be relieved of the demonizing force that is child labor.
All these terrible things demand some action to be done, and some improvements have been made. There has been two international conventions, hosted by the International Labor Organization(ILO), that have improved conditions for child laborers.. The first convention stated that the minimal age for hazardous work, any work that puts in danger the health, safety, or morals, of a child, is 18(16 in strict conditions). The minimal age for regular work is 15, in developing countries it is 14. This is because children generally finish compulsory education by that time. The minimal age for light work, work that isn’t hazardous, or effects education, is 13, in developing countries it is 12. The second convention prohibits all children under the age of 18 from doing any of the worse forms of child labor:
· Slavery, or any practices similar to slavery, such as trading children
· Using children in the production and trade of drugs
· Pornography
· Prostitution
· Using children in war
· Using children in illegal activities
Other ways that people have helped reduce child labor are for governments to make laws on child labor, for activists to help children get out of child labor, and other ways as well. Some progress has been made; child labor has decreased 10% worldwide in the last 4 years. So everyone can make a difference, and make another child be as fortunate as we are.
Everyday people are encountered with upsetting situations worldwide; however few do anything about it. We, 7th graders, are taking a stand and trying to contribute to the end of one of these situations by: attaining public awareness, creating websites and films in order to spread the message through the internet and raising money in unique ways to support the cause. Our efforts were not superfluous instead we worked diligently in order to raise money by receiving donations and having fundraisers, however we couldn’t do this without donators so it would be awesome for you to spread the word and increase awareness for this horrible tragedy so that we can prevent it together. You can help. According to UNICEF, 40 dollars donated will provide 1 child in a third world country with flexible education and give them a chance at a successful life. The average pair of sneakers costs 45 dollars. Imagine, that if instead of buying a fancy pair of sneakers which will last you 2 years max, you can buy a child another chance at life.
So what causes this terrible aspect of humanity? The answer is simple: poverty and limited education available. In most 3rd world countries, the general population is very poor and has to do everything possible to get a few pieces of bread and cup of water, barely enough to get through the day. Therefore, a lot of families sell their children to factories where they will get paid a small amount, if anything, just enough to support their families. Another cause of child labor is the limited amount of compulsory education available to children in developing countries. Most of the kids subjected to child labor have never heard of or seen a school house, because their families cannot afford school. Not going to school also limits the amount of future opportunities a child has in his adult life. “In 2006, approximately 75 million children were not in school” (Causes of Child Labor-The Child Labor Education Project). This statistic is absolutely astonishing! We, as children here at Edgemont, think that it is very easy for a child to go to school. Actually, this is not at all true. “A 2009 report by the United Nations estimated that achieving universal education for the world’s children would cost $10-30 billion”(Causes of Child Labor- The Child Labor Education Project). This amount is a very large sum, which is hard to provide.
Child laborers are provided with terrible working conditions. They are given the most dangerous jobs, and are paid very little for their effort. Since no adult would want to spend 12 hours a day at a burning furnace, or mixing the gunpowder for firecrackers. In fact“… more than twenty thousand children die in work related accidents each year”(Gale Student Resources in Context, 2012 Child Labor). Just imagine that twenty thousand young innocent kids never reach adulthood, and do not get to do anything with their lives.
Child hood is very precious, it effects the rest of our lives. A positive childhood helps that child become a responsible adult, and a negative childhood might result in a troubled, and irresponsible adult. Child labor ruins a childhood with suffering because it affects them negatively physically and mentally. Some physical effects of what child labor leaves behind include developmental disorders, stunted growth, and other problems. Child labor also leaves behind psychosocial effects. Some effects are damaged social and educational development, substance abuse, mood problems like aggression, traumatic effects, and socioeconomic effects. This is why our group wants to support rehab faculties for former child laborers, in addition to reducing the number of child laborers in India. The rehabilitation centers can help the former child laborers, to lead a good life onwards. So there will be a bright future for them.
India, with the largest demographic of child laborers, has 12.59 million children under labor as the present time. India also has lots of poverty and a major lack of social security which are the main causes of child labor, furthermore in Andhra Pradesh 400,000 children are forced into child labor, most of which are 7-14 year old girls that toil in the fields for roughly 14-16 hours a day. However others work in urban areas, specifically blacksmiths, with the same amount of labor, for example “Dilip, 10, is a model employee. He toils for more than 12 hours a day beside a furnace at a metalworking factory on the outskirts of the Indian city Varanasi. Blackened by coal dust and baked by constant furnace blasts, Dilip is nonetheless appreciated. ‘He is a good worker, ‘attests Arjun, his employer. “We pay him well to keep him here.” Dilip earns thirty cents a day.” This tragic tale happens to millions of children in India; however organizations like ours are trying to resolve this by donating money in order to sponsor other organizations.
Though India is just starting to resolve the child labor crisis it still hasn’t been fully resolved, certain members in our group (Nisha, Sidarth) have seen child labor first hand in India. (Nisha) I was driving with my friend in India when I saw children carrying buckets of water on their heads. I asked my mother if it was legal for five or six year olds to work. She then told me that those children were probably 12 or 13 because they’re starved and therefore prevented from growing. Some other members of our group have also experienced these horrible tragedies for example Sidarth has seen children laying on the streets with one or more limbs missing in order to receive begging money for their owners. He has also seen children selling several trinkets of the side of the road. However these cases are soon to be resolved and eventually India will be relieved of the demonizing force that is child labor.
All these terrible things demand some action to be done, and some improvements have been made. There has been two international conventions, hosted by the International Labor Organization(ILO), that have improved conditions for child laborers.. The first convention stated that the minimal age for hazardous work, any work that puts in danger the health, safety, or morals, of a child, is 18(16 in strict conditions). The minimal age for regular work is 15, in developing countries it is 14. This is because children generally finish compulsory education by that time. The minimal age for light work, work that isn’t hazardous, or effects education, is 13, in developing countries it is 12. The second convention prohibits all children under the age of 18 from doing any of the worse forms of child labor:
· Slavery, or any practices similar to slavery, such as trading children
· Using children in the production and trade of drugs
· Pornography
· Prostitution
· Using children in war
· Using children in illegal activities
Other ways that people have helped reduce child labor are for governments to make laws on child labor, for activists to help children get out of child labor, and other ways as well. Some progress has been made; child labor has decreased 10% worldwide in the last 4 years. So everyone can make a difference, and make another child be as fortunate as we are.
Everyday people are encountered with upsetting situations worldwide; however few do anything about it. We, 7th graders, are taking a stand and trying to contribute to the end of one of these situations by: attaining public awareness, creating websites and films in order to spread the message through the internet and raising money in unique ways to support the cause. Our efforts were not superfluous instead we worked diligently in order to raise money by receiving donations and having fundraisers, however we couldn’t do this without donators so it would be awesome for you to spread the word and increase awareness for this horrible tragedy so that we can prevent it together. You can help. According to UNICEF, 40 dollars donated will provide 1 child in a third world country with flexible education and give them a chance at a successful life. The average pair of sneakers costs 45 dollars. Imagine, that if instead of buying a fancy pair of sneakers which will last you 2 years max, you can buy a child another chance at life.