Report about The Issue of Child Labor

Introduction of the Child Labor Issue.

            It is a fact that world is dealing with so many issues and each issue has its own significance. The issue to be discussed here is Child Labor, which is also one of the important issues to be looked at on local and international level. This issue is huge in nature because it is associated with children, who are future generations of any society. If any society wants to grow and prosper, then they have to look upon their younger generation and grow them as individuals as well as part of society. Child labor is significant issue because it not only deprives children from their childhood, but it also has negative impact on their potential, abilities, mental and physical health. Education is a basic right for every child, and sad truth about child labor is that it deprives children from this basic right as well. The children, who have to work as a labor, they cannot get any kind of education, and their working conditions are also mostly very poor.

            The other important fact to keep in mind with regards to child labor is that children who work as laborers can be vulnerable in so many ways. They can be abused physically as well as mentally, which can have long-lasting effects on their personality. These children are also abused due to poverty of their family as poor families don’t have any resources or means to reply to any kind of abuse. They get extremely low wages with poor working conditions; even there can be situations, where they might face any kind of violence or threats. It is important to keep in mind that why child labor is an issue, because it is dealing with the future of the society. A society cannot prosper, if its upcoming generation is trapped in issues like child labor and poor life conditions. It has been estimated that around 215m children below the age of 15 years age are working as child labor worldwide (Thomas, 2013)

Why Child Labor is an Issue?

            The issue of child labor is present all around the world especially in poor and third world developing countries, where people do not have enough means to live their lives and force their children to work. This is considered an issue and an important one for many critical reasons. The first reason has already been mentioned in the introduction that children are future of the nations. They need protection, education, and all other means to become important part of a society so that they can play their positive role. But child labor does not allow children to become positive parts of society as they never get their basic rights like education. The other reason which makes it an important issue is that poverty cannot be eliminated in a particular region, where child labor is a common thing. The poor families are forced to send their children in child labor so that they can increase their family earning to afford basic needs of their lives. But overall, when a whole generation of children is deprived of education and development, it means that alleviation of poverty is impossible in such society, because poor families will remain poor because of child labor. If children can get education and grow as individuals, they can earn better living by earning some handsome jobs or work opportunities (Verma, 2013)

How to Solve the Issue of Child Labor?

            It is important for all stakeholders like government, families, societies and businesses to know that child labor is not good for anyone in the long term. So, they all must play their part in solving the issue of child labor, by making viable efforts. The child labor issue can be mitigated or at least its effects can be lessened by providing social awareness. The social mobilization is important to raise awareness about the issue so that poor families can understand that child labor will keep them under a continuous cycle of poverty. One of the good measures taken by International Labor organization is that they mark June 12^th as a World Day against Child Labor. Moreover, communities should also be mobilized and governments should work on grassroots level so that actual reasons are found and practical solutions are provided to the communities. The role of businesses is also crucial as they have to make sure that child labor is not practiced in any part off their supply chain. The small businesses owners need to have more awareness that child labor is not good for any society and they must participate in the global effort to end child labor (Athreya, 2014)

What we can Change?

            It has been observed that child labor works in small businesses; workshops as well as they also work in homes. So, our role is crucial to bring a positive change in the society by boycotting this wrong practice. We should not hire child labor in our homes to do any kind of tasks. Moreover, we must boycott businesses and companies, who use child labor in their production, manufacturing and supply chain processes. We can change the whole perspective by taking these steps. When the world will know that communities are ready to fight with the issue of child labor, and social awareness is increasing with the passage of time, the child labor would become a difficult option for many. Moreover, we must also act together as a society to help and support poor families around us, provide them enough awareness and resources to stay away from child labor. These practices on community level can change a lot of things regarding the issue of child labor.

Why Child Labor needs Changes?

            It is important for everyone to understand that above mentioned practices and changes are needed because they are indispensable to end the issue of child labor. If people will understand that child labor is not good for any society and children should not be deprived of a better life, which they can achieve by getting educational opportunities, then overall scenario will change dramatically. These changes will also help governments to implement their laws and strategies more effectively.

References of The Issue of Child Labor

Athreya, B. (2014). Ending Child Labor. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://blog.usaid.gov/2014/06/ending-child-labor/

Thomas, C. (2013). Protecting children from having to work. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/comment-analysis/WCMS_211978/lang--en/index.htm

Verma, S. (2013). Child Labour: A Serious Social Issue. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from https://blog.scit.edu/2013/08/05/child-labour-a-serious-social-issue/