Child Labour: Crime against Humanity

According to Unicef, it is estimated that around 150 million children aged 5-14 in developing countries are involved in child labour (Unicef). It is very common around the world and involves children working under hazardous conditions. Instead of having a life, they are scarred and tormented by others and their life is like a prison: no freedom. These children would love to break free from this world; however, they have to work not by choice, but by force. Child labour effects childrens childhood, denies or troubles their education, and harms them due to the hazardous conditions they work under. Child labour is depriving children from having a childhood which can only last for a short amount of time. Unicef Executive Director Ann M. says Children who are compelled to work are robbed of childhood itself,. It is a part of life that involves having fun, playing, and virtually just having the freedom of being a child. Children need to have fun and make friends. Without this, children become unsociable, shy and have no confidence in themselves. You need that friend to support you through hard times, especially at a young age. It fully effects their future, and have nearly no chance of achieving something or getting a good job. Also, children need freedom to become that independent child they should be. Furthermore, if children do not get the opportunity to explore the world, and see it as it should be, they will be unaware of what the world entails. Again, this definitely affects the women/man they will grow up to be. Not only that, but it is a critical time for safe and healthy human development (United Nations). Youngsters are growing, which means that they must have specials needs taken into consideration (such as behavior), but none of this is happening. Since children are just used for the benefit of money gain, they are ignored. They do what they are told, and thats as far as it goes; disregarding a child results to major behavioral problems. So not only do the children get treated badly through their childhood, they face another consequence which is having communication problems. They become aggressive or are rude with anyone they speak to. Overall, like a traffic light stops cars, child labour stops childhood. Just imagine being a young child, having no freedom, and all you had to do was work. This is exactly what child labourers injure, and this ends up stopping their whole childhood as they have no choice but to work. One of the key issues of child labour is the fact that it effects or denies children an education. First of all, if the child does not get an education, it does not only harm him or her, but also the new generations which follow; it determines what opportunities will go ahead in the future for that individual (Global March). However, children are being forced to work hours a day which leads to

either harming their education or dropping out completely. U.S. adolescents who work more than 20 hours per week have reported more problem behaviors (e.g., aggression, misconduct, substance use), and sleep deprivation and related problems (falling asleep in school) (Education Project). Also, children are unable to focus due to the lack of exhaustion from working, as it is clear that combing school and labour result low attendance. In countries with a high amount of child labourers, school attendance tends to be low. In Niger, with a school attendance rate of 30 per cent and a child labour rate of 72 per cent; there is an incredibly high percent of child labour happening (Unicef Children and education). Without education, children do not have much knowledge. We take things for granted, such as reading; which most of the labourers cannot actually do. That means before they have even grown up into an older man or women, it is already obvious they will not be successful because they are simply not educated enough. Child labour is the obstacle to education and goes on like a vicious circle. The child works, has no education, is not successful, gives birth, and then that child ends up in child labour (it goes on like this). Without the needed education, children will be very unknowledgeable and will not understand what the world is about. Children during their childhood must work long hours under very poor conditions, as well as work with very hazardous and dangerous machinery, which does not always lead to death but can permanently injure them. The International Labour Organization says Child labour is work in dangerous or unhealthy conditions that could result in a child being killed, or injured (ILO). Firstly, working with the machinery harms a childs health. Children can result to getting skin disease to asthma, and in the worst case, fatal injuries. Using the same machine can cause physical strain and damage joints, cause strain on the bones, and this can lead to stunting growth (United Nations). They can also permanently injure their spine which can last for their entire life time, and can be left with other deformations and disabilities. Worldwide, the ILO estimates that 22,000 children are killed at work every year. The numbers of those injured or made ill because of their work are not known. Next, working in poor and unclean conditions can result to illness. Children can get ill as a consequence of poor safety and health standards. Especially in agricultural labour, they have little access to clean water, washing facilities and toilets. Also, since children have to work no matter if they are sick, they can pass on contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, which someone can catch by a person sneezing or coughing, and Cholera which they can get from drinking contaminated water during agricultural labour. Lastly, child labour leaves the child psychologically damaged. The way the adults managing the children treat them is terrible. They are constantly being harassed, abused and experience a lot of violence, which can potentially leave lifetime damage. The state of their mental health could hinder their proper development. What people do not seem to understand, is that even when these children are older and are not labourers, they still have the history and bad memories that affect them for life. Childhood should be a time of enjoyment; however, the hoped enjoyment turns to a physical and mental nightmare.

Child labour definitely impacts children inside and outside, since they are robbed from their childhood, their needed education gets affected, and they are harmed them due to the poor conditions they have to work in. Child labour is not okay, and it should be stopped from continually ruining childrens lives. If you care and want to help these children, donate on the International Labor Rights Forum. The ILRF help these workers and truly care about the terrible lives these children have; ILRF serves a unique role among human rights organizations as advocates for and with working poor around the world. We believe that all workers have the right to a safe working environment where they are treated with dignity and respect, and where they can organize freely to defend and promote their rights and interests (ILRF). You can make a difference and stop child labour, once and for all!

Work Cited page "Child Labour and Education." Child Info - Unicef. Oxford University Press, Web. 22 May 2013. http://www.childinfo.org/labour_education.html "Child Labour." International Labour Organization. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. <http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/childlabour/lang--en/index.htm>. "Child Labour." Resources for Speakers on Global Issues. United Nations, Web. 12 May 2013. https://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/index.shtml "Child Labour." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational Publishers Ltd, Web. 26 Apr. 2013. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAchild.htm "Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse." Unicef. Unicef, Web. 12 May. 2013. http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58009.html "Donate to the International Labor Rights Forum ." International Labour Rights Forum. Web. 3 June 2013. <http://www.laborrights.org/>. "Education." Global March. Global March, Web. 22 May 2013. http://www.globalmarch.org/issues/Education "Hazardous child labour ." International Labour Organization. ILO, Web. 25 May 2013. http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/WorstFormsofChildLabour/Hazardouschildlabour/lang--en/index.htm "Health Issues." The Child Labour Public Education Project. 22 May 2013. Web. 1 Jan. http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/health_issues.html