 Child Labour |
Issue 137 |
From exploitation to education: The end of child labour
115 million children do not attend primary school. Almost half of the children who start primary school do not finish. Many of these children do not attend school because they have to work to help support their families. Because they do not complete enough schooling to even achieve basic literacy, they are only ever able to do unskilled work, even when they get older. Children are forced to work due to poverty and remain poor due to a lack of education. Providing children a basic education is the best investment the world can make in its future. Education reduces poverty by providing everyone with choices and opportunities to create a better life for themselves.
David is 15 years old, from Trujillo in Peru . He is now attending school full time. David's father died in a car accident 8 years ago. After his father's death, David had to help support his family. He went to work as a rag picker in a garbage dump. He worked nine hours a day, seven days a week and earned just one dollar a day. He worked like this for two years without attending school.
Rebecca is also from Peru. She is now 16 years old. When she was 7, she began dressing up as a boy to wash cars in the street with her older brother. She worked for ten hours a day for $1.50 instead of going to school. After two years of working like this she was found by a welfare worker and is now attending school. She hopes one day to be able to help those like her who were forced to work instead of going to school.
Mefsin is 16 years old, from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Mefsin began to work as a weaver with his father at the age of 11. Mefsin wanted to go to school but his father could not see the value in it. Mefsin's father needed Mefsin to work with him as his sight is failing and Mefsin would be better able to set the threads for weaving. Unless Mefsin worked with his father the clothing that he made would take longer to complete, meaning a reduced income for the family. Now Mefsin has convinced his father of the value of education and now attends school for four hours each day. Unfortunately, his father still wants him to work as well and he is often up until very late weaving for his father. Life is still difficult but at least Mefsin's father realises the value of getting an education. Mefsin's younger brother is now also attending school.
Alice is 16 and lives near Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. Alice did not attend school beyond preschool level. It costs over $100 per year to send a child to school in Côte d'Ivoire and Alice's parents could not afford to send her. She simply stayed home. Some of her friends used to go to the local garbage dump to find things to sell so she went with them to collect bottles, shoes and plastic bags and sold them to passers by. She began this at age 8. She worked 8 hours a day, six days a week and made around $2 per day. She worked like this until she was 13 so she could earn enough to feed herself. She had heard of an organisation that would help send her to school and enrolled at the age of 13. She has now completed 3 years of schooling, without having to pay fees or to pay for stationery. Alice has even convinced some of her friends to go to school. Alice hopes to learn more about sewing and to one day have her own sewing machine. She would also like to work with other children like her so that they will be able to realise their potential.
250 million of the world's 2 billion children don't have time to have a childhood. They have to work. They work because they can move their family from hunger to survival. Their parents are often unemployed and desperate for a decent job but the children are offered the jobs because they are a cheap and easily exploited source of labour. Education is often too expensive and under-resourced, forcing children and their parents to choose between education and work. Many girls in particular miss out on educational opportunities for many different reasons: they have to stay at home to care for their younger brothers and sisters while their parents work; it may not be safe to walk the long distances to school; if parents are forced to choose between educating sons and daughters, often the daughters miss out. Dangerous, difficult and unpleasant work is traditionally done by the poor and the powerless. Children in many parts of our world are among the least powerful and poorest. The HIV/AIDS epidemic means that many children are forced to become heads of their households once one or both of their parents have died.
Children work in a many areas. Around 70% of child labourers work in agriculture harvesting crops, carrying heavy loads of produce, often working very long hours. Others work as domestic servants, often for no pay, only food and board. About 5% of child labourers work in manufacturing especially in South Asia, where they are involved in carpet-making, football stitching, brick making and in the clothing industry. Substantial numbers also work as street vendors, selling such things as cigarettes or sweets. About 1% of child labourers work in mines and quarries, mining coal, gold or even diamonds. This is back breaking and dangerous work even for adults let alone children.
It is time to end child labour by:
- Intervening in the worst cases of abuse and exploitation so as to remove children from harm.
- Improving income support especially to mothers so that children are not forced to work to support the family.
- Providing universal and free education for all children which is conveniently located so that children will have the chance to realise their potential through good quality schooling.
Child labour is the flip side of the coin to universal education. Now is the time to eliminate the necessity for children to work and replace it with the necessity for children to receive an education.
The World Day Against Child Labour is June 12.
PDHPE
1) Go to www.globalmarch.org/campaigns/
worldcupcampaign/child%20labour.php to link this
month's Football World Cup with a social justice theme.
Children in India and Pakistan are involved in the stitching
together of footballs. Children in China and Vietnam are
involved in the manufacture of sportswear and shoes.
2) Go to www.globalmarch.org/campaigns/
worldcupcampaign/photogallery.php3 to view pictures
of child labourers making sporting equipment.
Read the above information and answer the following:
How many children were estimated to be involved in
stitching of footballs?
- How has the negative publicity affected the industry?
- What rates of pay are received by football-stitchers?
- What types of people are the typical football-stitchers?
- What effect does this type of work have on the
football-stitchers - especially children? - How does the work affect their schooling?
- How young can football-stitchers be?
- What are some of the organisations involved
in the campaign against child labour in this industry?
3)
Go to www.unicef.org/football/index_33220.html
and list how the game of football can help to make
for a better and more peaceful world?
Go to www.unicef.org/infobycountry/
kyrgyzstan_23370.html and www.unicef.org/
sports/index_23784.html for more examples.
4) Go to www.globalexchange.org/campaigns
/fairtrade/cocoa/3337.html to read about the
relationship between chocolate and child labour.
How can we be sure that the chocolate we buy
has not been produced using child labour? Contact
the major chocolate producers in Australia to find out.
English
The following is a song written by Peruvian children
who are fighting for their right to be treated fairly
and for the right to an education
(translator: Cinder Hypki)
With our song, with our struggle, we children will triumph.
We will all walk together, united; no one will stop us.
With the workers and the farmers, with city folk as well,
Today we tell you: "Unite!
Brothers and sisters for your liberation."
All together as brothers and sisters we will sow peace,
With love and friendship; no one will stop us.
Today we decide to go together to the market,
To teach any child we can find in our path.
You will see how beautiful it is when the child labourer
Knows how to read and write no one will cheat us.
You will see how beautiful it is when the child labourer
Knows how to read and write it will be our right.
Chorus:
By our efforts we will triumph;
Our struggle will be a sweet song of liberty.
a) What is the main idea in each stanza?
b) How do you think being united is connected to the idea of "triumph"?
c) How is unity related to "liberation"?
d) What is the central image of the second stanza?
e) Why do the children decide to "go together to the market"?
f) How will knowing how to read and write lead to not being cheated?
g) How does learning how to read and write lead to knowing your rights?
h) Write you own poem or song on the issue of child labour.
Visual Arts/Photography
Go to :
a) Assign each of the galleries to a
small group of students to analyse.
b) What techniques were used?
c) How was colour used?
d) How were the shots composed?
e)Comment on the use of backlighting
f) How do the photos affect we feel about the issue of child labour? What
photographic techniques help
to achieve that end?
HSIE/SOSE
1) After reading the backgrounder, try
doing the following quiz at
knowchildlabor.org/what_can_i_do/quiz.php
Were any answers surprising?
2) Go to
teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews
/indepth/child_labor/brazil/index.asp?
article=school
- Read the information and watch
the video. In a table list what Tatiana's
life was like in the past in one column
and in the other column, list what her
life is like now. - What caused the change?
- In what way is Tatiana one of the
lucky ones? - What is Tatiana's hope for the future?
teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews
/indepth/child_labor/child_labor/index.asp
?article=migrant
and working in small groups find out what life is
like for young people in our world who have to
work. Each group should have the following
focus questions:
a) What country is being profiled?
List some basic facts about the country.
b) What type of work do the children do?
c) Why do they have to do this work?
d) What is life like for the child who has to work?
e) Does the child attend school? Why or why not?
f) How has the child's life changed after being able to go to school?
g) What hopes and dreams do the children have for the future?
h) A small presentation could then be made to
the rest of the class. For more case studies go to:
digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/
cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&
context=child or
eev.liu.edu/ChivySok/circleofrights
/achildstory.htm
History
1) Go to: history.osu.edu/Projects/ChildLabor
/MrCoalsStory/ to look at a primary historical
source regarding the use of child labour in
the early 20th century in the USA.
-
What does this tell you about the way
children and childhood were thought
of at that time? b) Are there clues in
the document to suggest that this
would soon change?
2)
Consider the same questions for another source:
history.osu.edu/Projects/ChildLabor/CottonDress/
For more ideas on teaching about child labour go to:
www.ozspirit.com/archives.html#sla and
www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/
17_02/Labo172.shtml
-
For ideas on what you can do to combat the
problem of Child Labour go to:
knowchildlabor.org/what_can_i_do/
what_can_i_do.php and to
www.globalmarch.org/joinus/index.php -
To ensure that products you buy are produced
ethically, without the use of child labour, there
are some trademarks to check for. Go to
www.antislavery.org/homepage/
campaign/slavetradevfairtrade.pdf to read
about this. If markings are not visible on items
that may have been produced by child labour
e.g. carpets, make sure that you ask about this
as even the very act of asking the question will
raise awareness for the trader and make them
more likely to ask their suppliers about this issue.
This is using the power of the market to change
unjust manufacturing practices. Go to
www.rugmark.org/ for more information. -
For more background on this issue go to
uk.oneworld.net/guides/childlabour -
For ideas specifically for young people
wanting to join the campaign against child labour
go to
www.ilo.org/public/english/standards
/ipec/wdacl/2006/suzuki/index.htm -
To access the latest report on Child labour
by the International Labour Organisation go to www.ilo.org/public/english/
standards/ipec/about/globalreport/
2006/index.htm -
Go to webfusion.ilo.org/public/db/standards
/normes/appl/appl-byConvYear.cfm?hdroff
=1&Lang=EN&conv=C182 to check the list of countries that have ratified the Convention Against the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Has Australia ratified the Convention? Contact your Local Federal Member to tell her/him that you support Australia's ratifying of the convention without delay.