World
Issues 120
Child Labour
The Problem
Child labour is work that children should not be doing because they are too young to work, or even because the labour is too dangerous or otherwise unsuitable for them. Not all labour done by children is considered unsuitable as their participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their education can be considered positive. This does not entail to only children working; however, child labour also includes sexual exploitation and other illegal doings such as drug and human trafficking.
Canadian Perspective
Many people believe that Canada refrains from the problem of child labour; however, there are still instances where child labour has hit Canadian news. Canadians like to think that child labour only happens overseas, where children wield machetes on cocoa plantations in Ghana, and cut tiny fingers on carpet looms in India. Few think of teens paving Canada’s highways. In fact, little attention is paid to working conditions for children in this country until one of them dies. To solve this problem, Canada promotes work place safety, and workers of any age have the legal right to refuse a task or job if it puts their lives at risk.
Solutions
1. To Eliminate Poverty: The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund should rethink their loan plans to developing countries in an effort to increase social expenditure rather than reduce it.
2. Abolish Child Trafficking: Everywhere in the world, there are adults who earn a living by buying and selling children. The governments of all countries must take harsh measures against child trafficking.
3. Encourage Education: Children need to learn how to read and write. In many countries, particularly for those where structural adjustment lending has led to the privatization of schools-the cost of teaching, books, and uniforms makes it impossible for children to get an education. Furthermore, for education to become a solution to child labour, schools must be located close to where these children live.
Reaction/Reflection
Child labour has proved to a major issue globally, and it affects developing countries such as China and India. Also, there are still some instances where child labour is present in developed countries, hence, the problem is not specifically targetted in one area. However, we believe that countries such as India and China need immediate support and help in order to abolish child labour. Although countries like Canada still face some cases of child labour, China and India has mass populations of children working for barely any money and working dangerous jobs.
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/nextsteps.shtml
http://aipe-cci.org/eng/finding-solutions/
http://www.weday.com/global-voices/child-labour-is-canadas-invisible-crisis/
http://www.volunteerweekly.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/stop-child-labour-2.jpg
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/hine-norris.jpg