Did you know that 160 million children aged 5-17 were engaged in child labor in 2021? (Reid, 2021). So many young minds that have the capability of studying hard and pursuing their dreams are out there, working tirelessly which is a detriment. Child labor was first brought up in the early 1900s with the Beverridge proposal for restrictions in type of the work in which children were involved. This led to further studies about child labor and hazardous work conditions for children. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act was created which protected the rights of children. In most cases, children are forced to work in places such as factories, but there are others in which children work by their own wish because of family situations, often in the pressure of parents. Employers reason that they aren’t forcing, but are helping poor families by hiring their children. With increased opportunities and better education, kids should have an opportunity to get educated, rather than be forced to work at a young age.
Children that are engaged in child labor are unable to pursue education. Working for long hours of a day leaves no time for these child laborers to study and go to school. The employers’ demands make it impossible to do anything else throughout the day. In most cases, “...employers actively prohibit children from attending school, while in others, the long hours demanded by employers make schooling practically impossible. Some children may try to work and attend school at the same time, but find that they don’t have enough time to study, are forced to miss classes, are frequently tired in class, and eventually fall behind or drop out” (hrw.org, 2005). This means that even if children want to go to school after work, they can’t, because their employer won’t allow them to. If they disobey their employer, they are risking losing their job. That prevents most employees from speaking out for themselves.
Education is the key to success. All great men and women have earned respect and reputation in peoples’ minds by gaining knowledge and educating themselves. The sole reason for the world’s progress is education. As new studies originated, the more advanced the world became. Civil rights hero Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education” (uopeople.edu 2022) In difficult times, it can be a challenge to make decisions and predict what could be the effects of them. This evidence shows that education enables us to decide wisely and separate out foolish options.
Others say that when you work hard at child labor, you discover different ways of doing things and that can help you as well. It is also required to learn the basics of life when you are young and progress as you go. However, kids learn a ton of things every single day when they go to school and that will help them be successful as adults in their careers. For example, uopeople.edu states, “By getting an education, . . . . You might graduate and become a manager instead of an entry-level employee. You might become a CEO or shareholder and take home profits at the end of the month instead of just a salary.” This shows that being a laborer can perhaps teach you the basics, but if you want to become advanced, education is your last resort. Even though University of the People is a bit biased and is promoting its program through the blog, it has a .edu domain which makes its research related to a school and credible.
Overall, laboring or doing hard work isn’t a bad practice but doing it at a young age can be harmful in the long run. Kids can make harmful decisions in hard times such as getting a job for themselves so that they can support their families financially. In these cases, employers sometimes take advantage of such poor families by treating young employees harshly and by giving them less pay. These young minds won’t even dare to protest against their employers because after all they are kids and helpless so they can’t afford to lose their jobs. What would you do if you were in their shoes? Would you dare to go against your employer?
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