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| by Benita Tupchong, age 17, Streetsville Secondary School, Ontario, |
Jul 12, 2004 |
“We are global citizens with tribal souls.”
— Piet Hein
When I think of what childhood should be like, I think of laughter, learning, and growth. Sadly, millions of children experience little of this because they are entangled in a complex network of child labour. Most authorities agree that child labour includes any work that can jeopardize the health, safety, or morals of a child. It also encompasses the deprivation of the child’s physical, intellectual, and social growth. Child labour may be through agriculture, manufacturing, community-based work, trafficking, prostitution, debt bondage, and various other activities. While statistical information about child labour is limited, the International Labour Organization estimates that there are 250 million children currently in the labour force in developing countries alone. These children are being deprived of social and educational opportunities as a means of improving the quality of their lives; as a result, they will likely continue life along the same path of hard labour and poverty. As youth, we have a voice; that voice is spoken through the everyday decisions we make. Although universal child protection faces a multitude of challenges in its enforcement, promoting education and raising social awareness are key factors to alleviating the use of child labour.
Lack of education — which is closely linked to levels of social and economic disparity — is, by far, one of the leading factors that give rise to child labour. Many children do not go to school when poor parents weigh the cost of sending their children to school against allowing them to work. When children remain uneducated, they are unaware of their rights as citizens, and are more susceptible to treatment that violates their personal safety or health and exploitation of their cheap labour. Ignorance breeds a vicious cycle of a life of unskilled work, less pay, more poverty, and the likelihood that the next generation will repeat the cycle. In addition, education for adults is equally important. “Educated adults have fewer and better-educated children.”
One example of positive government action is in Kenya. In 2003, the Kenyan government made education free and compulsory for children in primary schools, as well as basic education for adults. As a result, an estimated 1.5 million children who previously did not attend school have enrolled. Another example is in Kerala, India. The promotion and value placed on child protection and education in Kerala has been a strong force behind the declining incidence of child labour — it now stands less than 3 percent. The recent widespread expansion of public and private educational facilities has caused an increase in the number of children attending school, instead of entering the work force. Both these examples support the idea that education breaks the cycle of poverty, which is the single largest factor contributing to child labour.
In contrast, Pakistan, which had almost 50 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 in the labour force in 1996, spends only about 4 percent of the government’s budget on education and health combined. Meanwhile, around 38 to 40 percent of that budget is allocated to military spending, which is primarily used for defending its borders.
What can youth possibly do about the issue of child labour? The Western world has a powerful influence on global activities. If we cannot attack the problem right where it is occurring, we can make changes here, at home. We must look inward — to re-evaluate our own thoughts and actions. The inward transformation will give rise to outward change, for we are all interconnected, and “no man is an island, entire of itself,” as John Donne once said. The problem with our society is that it places little focus on learning about world issues, and as a result, our youth remain ignorant about worldly affairs. We are global citizens with tribal souls, part of the whole of humanity, but self-centred in our aspirations. We watch the horrors of violence and oppression on the daily news, and yet remain immune to the real lives behind the pictures we see. In this way, we are blinded from seeing how our economic, technological, and cultural domination is affecting those living in the developing world. We must adopt a broader perspective in our learning and take the initiative to use our acquired literacy skills and resources to inform ourselves so that we can act more responsibly.
In addition to promoting global education, we need to reach the social conscience of consumers at home, who indirectly encourage the practice of child labour. In an incessant search for market expansion and domination, companies are seeking greater profits by using cheap labour in developing countries. Since children can be paid less than adults — as well as be more easily mistreated — children are at a higher demand for employment in these areas. As consumers in North America, we need to be aware of companies who are exploiting cheap labour. One way to take action is to boycott products made in areas where there are no protective laws enforced against child labour. The goal is to create awareness of the interrelationship between our actions and their far-reaching effects elsewhere, so that thoughtful choices are made concerning the goods we buy.
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