Child abuse can be defined as a behavior directed towards children that results in harm or injury or that seriously interferes with normal child development (www.childabuse.com). Child abuse includes a wide spectrum of abusive actions, from acts of commission, to lack of action or omission. Abuse can start even before the birth of the child, and can have unfavorable effects on the child. Maternal drug abuse and failure to seek appropriate prenatal health care during pregnancy can also be con

or. An investigation entitled A sub-proletariat in short trousers showed that in parts of Bombay, India, 24.7% of children had begun working at the ages of between 6 and 9 and 48.4% at the ages of 10 and 12 and the remaining 26.9% had entered the labor market at the ages of between 13 and 15 (Bouhdiba 2).

· Explore the nature and causes of child labor problem

· Explore the terms and conditions in which children work

s a consequence and that it is the exploitation of poverty that bring about the child labor and prevents children from getting a basic education.

· Recommend guidelines for policy and program to progressively eliminate child labor.

Child labor and putting children to work has immense negative effect in the physical, mental and psychological development of the children. Working children are young, therefore they are vulnerable and prone to the many work related diseases and dangers. These children do not get proper nutrition, they are weak and for this reason they are less immune to harmful diseases.

Another serious problem these working children face is the long hours of work they do. Long working hours hinder with the child's education by taking up the required study time. For this reason many child labors drop out of school to be able to work and contribute money to their families. Long working hours also cause fatigue in these already weak children making them more prone to fatal accidents in their work places.

· Assess the magnitude of child labor problem

Children work in harsh working conditions often under rude people. These children are ill treated and often beaten up making them timid and depressed. According to the ILO, many child domestic servants are isolated from family and friends. They are frequently abused physically, mentally and sexually. According to a report by ILO, these children show symptoms of withdrawal, regression, premature aging and depression.

Child labor is a pervasive problem throughout the world, especially in developing countries. According to a report from Prevent Child Abuse Asia, Africa and Asia together account for over 90 percent of total child employment (www.childabuse.com). Child labor is especially prevalent in rural areas where the capacity to enforce minimum age requirements for schooling and work is lacking. Children work for a variety of reasons, the most important being poverty and the induced pressure upon them to escape from this plight. Though children are not well paid, they still serve as major contributors to family income in developing countries. Schooling problems also contribute to child labor, whether it be the inaccessibility of schools or the lack of quality education which urge parents to enter their children in more profitable pursuits. Traditional factors such as rigid cultural and social roles in certain countries further limit educational attainment and increase child lab!

A number of approaches have been suggested to combat child labor. The major thrusts are reducing poverty; educating children; providing support services for working children; raising public awareness; legislating and regulating child labor; and promoting elimination of abusive child labor through international measures. These approaches are not mutually exclusive and are adopted in various combinations in child labor reduction strategies.

We should make people more aware about the problem of child labor. Societies should be introduced to the problems of child labor. Working children and their families should be made aware of the dangers involved in the work done by children and their consequences. The media seems to be very effective in this process because it can exhibit a direct and common understanding of the problem. Major changes are coming and will come from the globalization that information and media are experiencing. Nowadays technology and knowledge are available and easy to sh

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