Child Labor
After almost 200 years, slavery still has not been fully abolished. We as members of western civilization are still actively involve in slavery in the form of child labor. Child labor is any economic activity performed by someone younger than of age fifteen (Otis et al. 612). Therefore child domestic servants are children under the age of 15 who are forced to work in households or factories against their own will for promise of pay or remuneration or no compensation at all. The history of child labor has stemmed from the Industrial revolution of the 18th century and it continues to play a major role in the economy of many countries today. Even though the problem of child labor is indeed a pressing one, the question is how can put an end to it? There are possible solutions that can be put in place to ameliorate the problem. There are many advantages that may be reaped from the successful amelioration of this issue.Child Labor is a serious social problem that came about with the rise of industrial production and capitalism. It began during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century in Great Britain, where children as young as 6 or 7 worked in the factories. With the Industrial Revolution, machinery took over; children often ten
ded these machines in ever-increasing numbers from as young as age five, especially in the textile industry. Child labor also occurred in coal mining, where children would labor for long hours in the dark, damp mines, carrying coal on their backs up to the surface. Child labor first became an issue in the U.S. in the 1850's in large Northern cities like New York and worsening with increased industrialization. Poor children in the large cities were sent out by parents as young as age 6 or 7 to earn money and contribute to the household economy. Today, child slave labor is still being used all over the world to produce quality name brands. Nike, GAP, Wal-Mart, Kmart, JCPenny and other department stores are all guilty of forcing children to work as slaves. Estimates by human rights experts are that there are as many as 200 million children under the age of 14 who are working full-time (Weiner, 75). These Kids work up to 20 hours a day 7 days a week in harsh conditions, and are severely beaten, threatened and sometimes killed if production quotas are not met or if a mistake is made. The temperatures in the factories would reach up to at least 100 degrees and there is little drinking water available for the workers. On the way into and out of the factory the workers are strip-searched, to prevent food or water being brought in; it is thought that these items will dirty the garments. These young children were not allowed to go to the bathroom more than once, during the day. Nike has become one of the largest child slave labor institutes around the world. An estimate that over 70,00 workers are producing shoes and sportswear for Nike, child slaves are paid 0.15 cents for every $100 pair of shoes sold by Nike. When Nike was recently accused of having Michael Jordan's line of sneakers made by 11-year-olds in Indonesia at 14 cents an h
Some common words found in the essay are:
Child Labor, Kmart JCPenny, Industrial Revolution, , Michael Jordan's, child labor, child slave labor, Nike Nike, slave labor, child slave, industrial revolution, child slavery, 18th century, labor indeed pressing, stop child labor, children children, industrial revolution 18th, combat child, indeed pressing, stop child, revolution 18th century,
Approximate Word count = 1239
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
