Child labor

By: Caitlynn McAllister



               Child labor is a horrible thing. Child labor is so bad it prevents young children from getting
the education they need to have a good career in the long run such as their careers when they become adults. Also young kids from the range four to six are put into child labor at that age with no say. Plus some children are even hurt or put in brutal working conditions where the sun beats down on them all day. Just because a family is struggling or in extreme poverty does not mean their kids should be sent out and be a slave for some company and treated horribly. Overall child labor is a horrible thing because children do not get the right education, they get put in at young ages, and they are put in brutal working conditions.

       When a kid is put into child labor they do not have a chance to get the proper education they need. For example, “Dora Perez has to make a 30 hour drive to minnesota to work on a farm” (Karen Fanning)  . This is bad because Dora leaves at the beginning of the school year so now she cannot attend school and she will be missing that knowledge forever. Also, “65% of migrant children end up dropping out of school” (Karen Fanning) they only drop out because they have no choice their parents are struggling with poverty so they have to go work at a farm to help. Plus one quote that I found that stood out to me about them dropping out was, “many of them drop out not because they don’t want an education, not that their parents don’t want them to have an education, but because it becomes such a futile endeavor for them” (Karen Fanning) This quote is powerful because it tells the truth about child labor. Sending children into child labor decreases their chance of getting an education.

               Many children are put out into child labor at a very young age. For example Iqbal Masih was born in Pakistan and put into child labor at age four to make up a debt of 12$. As you can see that’s a very young age. Imagine yourself being a four year old having no control of anything and being shipped off to work in some factory or farm would you like it? I know i would not. Also (Anson Schloat) the director of Freedom Hero; Iqbal Masih said, “Iqbal escaped when he was only 10”. That means that Iqubal worked for eight years! Another child who was put into child labor at a young age was Santos Polendo. According to ( Karen Fanning) , “Santos Polendo was six years old”. Even though that’s two years older than Iqubal it’s still a very young age. Child labor is so bad when they take in little kids to work.

Would you wanna work from sun up to sundown in brutal conditions? I would never want to. But some children have to all because of child labor. For example, “Dora Perez only works in summer months from 6 a.m - 6 p.m” ( Karen Fanning). That’s a really long time in the heat also when your body is moving around and working as much as they do it increases the hottness. One example of working in brutal conditions is in the article Iqbal and Craig it says, “Iqbal was chained to his loom and spent 12 hours a day making carpets”. Imagine that being chained to something and having no breaks for 12 hours! . Some conditions are even hazardous, according to (Matt Berg), “85 million of them are engaged in hazardous work”. That’s a lot of kids who are put in danger all because of child labor. One example of hazardous work is Dora Perez, one day Dora was doing her normal work but did not have shoes on and she cut herself on a hoe. She had no medical attention so she had to self medicate. Putting children in these horrible situations is so wrong and it just such a cruel thing to do.

             As you can see child labor is horrible. Children like you and me do not have the chance of getting an education, nor do they get to enjoy their four to six year old days. They even have to work in bad conditions some of them don’t even get paid. I find it so sad that kids have to go through these things and have to miss out on things other kids get to enjoy. But luckily some kids got saved like Dora Perez and Santos Polendo all thanks to (MET) an organization for freeing children from child labor. But not all kids become free such as Iqbal, who was shot in the head. Also Craig started an organization to free children it was called free the children. His message was very powerful and very true, “we’re not against children working, we’re against children being used and exploited” this statement is very truthful child labor uses and exploits young children.