Child Labor is when a child is working for someone or a business illegally. There are many different things that come up when you search the term child labor. Things like domestic servant, trafficking, agriculture and more. In the text below, you will read more about these different things and about what they are listed below.
Domestic Servant is when a child is working in a private where they are doing their everyday work around the house. Most of them are between the ages of twelve and seventeen working for rich families. They work long hours, wash laundry, polish the floors, cook meals, shop for supplies, take care of their children and their animals. Domestic servants receive insults when they make mistakes, working to slow, and they are also beaten and sexually abused by their employer. They have very little education and they hardly see their families or peers as well. This is mainly happening in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and other areas.
Human Trafficking is when someone is forced to sell their body in exchange for money. Child prostitution is another serious problem in the United States. The FBI had crackdown on this case recently here in the U.S. said by "CNN Justice" doing a nation nationwide operation over the weekend resulted in 150 arrests, with 105 children between the ages of 13 and 17 rescued in 76 different cities, according to Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. This is alson happening in other parts of the country as well. Those who work in the sex trade are especially at risk of contracting AIDS or other sexually transmitted disease. Some could even die of their disease due to no treatment from a doctor. Children are not being taken care of on the physical and emotional levels. They are being insulted and beaten daily and it never ends. Many children don't even see their parents anymore after they are captured. Making it more hard to get back to where they came from. “They’ll withhold their food as a means of “Breaking, controlling, and punishing their workers. Many children have been brought and sold right here in the U.S. and to other parts of the country as well. "According to a 2005 UNICEF report, approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, and many of them are forced into prostitution" (Parker 110).
SweatshopsA sweatshop is a business that often ignores labor laws, health and safety regulations. Children are working in these sweatshops for very little money. Most of the time it is because the child wants to help the parent out when they are without a job causing them to miss out on their education and future. Many children are working in dangerous conditions at these jobs.
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Child soldier is still happening now. Children as young as eight serve in government forces or armed rebel groups. Th“There exist as many as 300,000 children soldiers worldwide”(Lapiner). This is happening in Sierra Leone, Uganda, Rwanda, Mexico, and many other countries. “Children are most likely to become child soldiers if they are poor, separated from their families, displaced from their homes, living in a combat zone or have limited access to education”(Lapiner). They are also forced to kill there parents and mutilate their neighbors Other children are forcibly recruited, "press-ganged" or abducted by these armed groups. Young girls are being raped and will most likely become the commanders wives. Some of the children are put in front of the younger men where there are minefields ahead. Many children do not survive in conditions like these. These children are physically and mentally abuse taking away their childhood and education. Some have tried to run away but if they are found they are put to death. It will be hard for them to adjust back to a normal lifestyle and it will not be easy.
Agriculture is about 70% percent of all child labor worldwide. Children are working on different types of farms and plantations. “They plant and harvest coffee, tea, sugarcane, rubber, bananas, cocoa, cotton, tobacco, and other products. Children are working all day in the hot sun for hours. Making only $ 1. 10 per night or sometimes nothing at all. Agricultural work is particularly hazardous to children, with farm machinery, unsafe transportation, and pesticides that are harmful. Children are at risk for a toxic exposures to chemicals used on the job and it can be very bad for their lungs especially breathing it in. More than 16,000 kids and teens were injured in farm accidents in 2009 alone according to the Department of Labor. There is a case here in the U.S. last July where 15-year-old Curvin Kropf, an employee at a small family farm near Deer Grove, Illinois, died when he fell off the piece of heavy farm equipment he was operating, and it crushed him said by CNN. If this year follows trends, Curvin will be only one of at least 100 children below the age of 18 killed on American farms, not to mention the 23,000 who will be injured badly enough to require hospital admission. Children should not be on farm working in the kind of condition period and its very sad that it does exist in our country and other countries.
Child labor is a very good issue around the world and its keeps spreading everyday. There are laws that protect children who are under this situation where they can't get out. Some is lucky to make it out while others are never heard of or found. While doing this research I have learned a lot of things about child labor and it really opened my eyes. I also hope who ever is reading this get some type of knowledge and understanding of it. Thank you for viewing my website. :) |