ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION, CHILD LABOR IS "WORK THAT DEPRIVES CHILDREN OF THEIR CHILDHOOD, THEIR POTENTIAL AND THEIR DIGNITY, AND THAT IS HARMFUL TO PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT."
Child labor occurs in over 215 places around the globe, with the largest population in Asia and the Pacific, and is usually; mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, interferes with a child's education, breaks a nations minimum age law, involves intolerable abuse, or uses children to undermine labor laws.
Most children who enter child labor do no get out of it, as it is a very corrupted system where people take advantage of the naive children. Not only do the children never escape the sweatshops, but those children are kept in horrible conditions. Many children are abused by their masters, the doors to the factories are locked (a hazard for fires), the temperatures are either too hot or too cold, cramped spaces, and many other injuries and diseases varying for job to job. (Learn more about those injuries on ¨Under The Weather¨).
Most children who enter child labor do no get out of it, as it is a very corrupted system where people take advantage of the naive children. Not only do the children never escape the sweatshops, but those children are kept in horrible conditions. Many children are abused by their masters, the doors to the factories are locked (a hazard for fires), the temperatures are either too hot or too cold, cramped spaces, and many other injuries and diseases varying for job to job. (Learn more about those injuries on ¨Under The Weather¨).
In 3rd world countries, making a living can already be difficult. There are not enough jobs for most families and wages are low, meaning a high poverty rate. There are many reasons children might end up in child labor. A few common reasons are:
- Family needs to pay off a debt, so their children work at sweatshops to pay it off.
- A family needs money so they sell their child to a sweatshop.
- A family needs money so they send their child off to work in a sweatshop to bring in an income.
- A child was born into child labor.
Overall, Child labor is harmful to children and morally wrong. We must work together to end child labor around the world.