CHILD LABOR

CHILD LABOR

CHILD LABOR

Introduction

Childhood is the most innocent and carefree phase of one's life where all reality is just a dream, where whatever one wants; one usually gets without much difficulty. It is a time period in one's life where there are no tensions of everyday life, all life is a ride in one's favorite swing. But, unfortunately this is just one side of the story. The other side of the coin is full of burdens and pressures. Here the child is made to work under extreme conditions, while his body and mind are still fragile and undeveloped. Here the child undergoes severe exploitation everyday, where he has to earn for a large family bearing all the harsh conditions at work. He becomes a robot, whose sole purpose is to find more and more means of earning a better livelihood for his family. He is alone, miserable, and without support. This is what is called Child Labor. It is one of the most serious issues of the modern society and one of the challenges that demands urgent solution.

Discussion

Children, who are suffering from abusive child labor in the world, fall below a certain minimum age limit. The practice of child labor is going on since a long time and depriving millions of children of their basic human rights including freedom, development, education and play. This has been recognized as a worst form of child exploitation and though measures are being taken against it in many parts of the world, the issue remains unresolved to a great extent. The UNICEF reported about 158 million children aging between 5 to 14 years of age who are victims of child labor since an early age and this figure is continuously on the rise. (2006 statistics reported)

The problem of child labor is not only restricted to under-developed or developing countries, even developed countries are a part of this menace. While Asia accounts for highest percentage of child labor, sources argue that its number is still on the rise and minimizing child labor will boost world's overall economy. In the United States alone, the ever increasing gap between the rich and poor are forcing more children to abandon schools and search for jobs. The International Labor organization (ILO) states that around 246 million children are currently working under illegal, hazardous, extremely exploitive conditions at work place and are forced to perform tasks that exceed their physical and mental abilities. These children are engaged in household activities, commercial jobs, agricultural sector, manufacturing sector, mining, fishing and other such fields. Others are also involved in illegal jobs as prostitutes, drug traffickers, and serving soldiers.

The definition and scope of Child Labor varies from society to society and depends heavily on human attitudes and behaviors associated to such a concept. In some societies, it is believed that a person's childhood ends when he reaches sexual maturity. Hence any person beyond this phase will not be considered a child ...