Children in Society- Child labour
child labour is an issue that affects children all over the world and whether we like it or not, it contributes in great extent to the world’s economic development. People tend to think of it as an issue related to the past, pictured by young chimney sweepers or children working down in mines or in mills or in more recent times, in under developed countries, children working to survive and provide for their families. However, research reveals that in contemporary Britain this is still an issue, as children still perform arduous labour and British multinationals are either directly or indirectly involved with exploitation of children around the world. (Lavalette, 1999) But what is it meant by child labour?
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2010) child labour can be defined as harmful work undertaken by children that keeps them from fully experiencing their childhood, granting them poor or no access to education and disrupting their healthy growth and development. ILO (2010) estimates that globally around 215 million children are considered “child labourers”, meaning that these are children living very different lives from what is expected of the modern and universal concept of childhood.
The Term Paper on Child Labour 9
... on Child Labour Accelerating action against child labour which contains new global estimates on child labour. Children comprise of 60% of the world’s total. ... Other NGOs that has worked on the issue of child labour in Pakistan includes organization such as UNICEF. ... for the alleviations of child labour. Summary The project is about a very controversial issue: Child Labour. The report conveys that ...
This concept of childhood is one that indicates that children should be protected from the cruelties and worries of the world have access to education, grow to be successful adults and at the same time enjoy the wonders of being a child. (Holt, 2013) However, this is not always the case. Children all over the world work and in most cases they are not given a choice. In many deprived areas of the world, even the smallest wage a child can get, can make a difference between life and death. (Gifford, 2009)Therefore working is for them the only chance of survival. Some children are not given a choice as they are forced by their parents and carers. This may be because they are abused or were abandoned. This will force children to perform harmful types of labour, that may include prostitution and begging in the streets, (Gifford, 2009)
It is one’s opinion that children should be able to work, if that is what they wish, however to understand how child labour can be acceptable it is important to first understand the difference between child labour and work.
As it was previously mentioned, according to ILO (2010), “child labour” is a form of harmful work undertaken by children, however not all forms of work are classified as “child labour”. Forms of work that do not affect the children’s health and development, and do not interfere with schooling, are normally seen as something positive, as it may help developing the children’s sense of responsibility and independence. (ILO, 2010) Therefore, it is to conclude that not all types of work are harmful. But who’s to say how harmful work can be for children?
One of the arguments against children’s work is that it negatively affects child development, yet child psychologists have been criticised for making such assumptions. According to Woodhead (1999, cited in Maybin and Woodhead, 2003) these assumptions do not represent the whole picture. He argues that in order to understand the harmful consequences work inflicts in children, it is important to take into consideration the different contexts in which they are inserted, without immediately assuming that children’s work is naturally harmful. In today’s Britain it is unnatural to see children performing labour, however this has not always been the case.
The Essay on Child Care The Effect On Family Life
More and more families are putting their children into daycare every day. There are different reasons as to why they have to do this. The main reasons are that both parents have to work, or the child is in a single parent situation, and the parent has to work in order to have an income to buy basic needs. In order to pay the child care bill and the cost of enrolment fees, etc, parents will need to ...
Before the industrialization the normative rule would have been children beginning to work as soon as they were old enough to usefully contribute to the family budget. Working class children did not enjoy the privilege of growing and developing through education and play. (Maybin and Woodhead, 2003) Children would be given jobs from a very young age. For example, in agriculture children could be employed as young as six years old as human scarecrows. For children this would probably have been a fun activity and a form of enjoying nature and exercising, if it wasn’t for the loneliness, the long hours and the empty stomach making it exhausting and terrifying. (Humphries, 2010) Other tasks in agriculture would have been looking after animals, milking cows, planting seeds, pulling weeds and picking the ripe crops. Children working in homes would have been domestic servants, apprentices, chimney sweepers or help with family production. If children were apprentices, they would be working and living with their master, receiving training instead of wages. If the masters were not abusive (which they were most of the times), the children and their families would consider these fair arrangements, as by the age of twenty one the children would have mastered the skills and probably be able to set up their own businesses. (Kussmaul, 1990) Some children would also work as domestic production assistants. This way they would contribute directly to the family’s production and therefore the hence of the income. This form of child labour was not seen as abusive, in fact, it was seen as necessary for the survival of the family and the child’s development. ( Lavalette, 1999)
During industrialisation child apprentices worked in rural textile mills and factories. These were described by Charles Dickens as “dark satanic mills”. Although children were used to work long hours in farms, in factories and mills they were submitted to all sorts of cruel and violent treatments.(Thompson, 1966) Poor health conditions, cruel punishments, strict discipline, long hours and low or no wages, made the factory system a focus of criticism. Many sociologists, such as Marx (1909, cited in Tuttle, 2001) argued that children worked under deplorable conditions. These views of the factory work helped raise a debate and the Parliament took action to initiate a Royal Commission of Inquiry into children’s employment. (Tuttle, 2001) However others, such as Clapham (1926, cited in Tuttle, 2001) argued that these jobs were beneficial to the children, as it helped contributing to the family’s economic development, and that it was no worse than the work in the farms.
The Essay on Children Work Women Working
In the world today, lots of women go out to work after having children. It causes a company which employs them many problems and difficulties. However, some women have to quit working because of their responsibility of looking after children. So there is a question about: "Should married woman with children be discouraged from going out to work? ." Firstly, there are many different points of view ...
These debates have contributed to the changes on the notion of childhood and today, in Britain, having children performing labour is something unacceptable and unnatural.
In Britain children still work during the holidays, out of school hours and many of them work at home. The acceptance of children’s working in the UK is now possible as work is strictly regulated and the children’s income is rarely essential to the family budget. However many children care for family members, and this is a type of work that can be seen as harmful in the sense that children are missing out on their childhood. According to the “Hidden from view” report (2013) there are 166,363 young carers in England. Most of these children remain hidden from society for a diverse number of reasons, such as stigma, bullying, loyalty or simply because they don’t know where to turn for support. Some of these young carers are as young as five years old. (Hounsell, 2013) The report also found that one in one in twenty children miss school because of their caring responsibilities. This shows that although the modern notion of childhood implies that children should experience it to the fullest, it is still common to observe children performing tasks that, in theory, should be the responsibility of adults.
It it is one’s opinion that children should not perform any form of work that stops them from fully experiencing the wonders of childhood. However, this is a Romantic ideal of childhood that is primarily centred on the innocent child that needs to be protected from the outside world. (O’Brien, 2014) As previously mentioned, one believes that although children should be protected they also should have the right to decide to work if they wish to do so.
Holt (2013) believes that children should be able to work; in fact, he sees this as a right that is denied by law. He argues that many children may have strong reasons to why they want to work. This may be because they want to earn some pocket money for a savings account or to spend in things they would like, and also, living in a consumer society, not having money could mean that the child would feel left out. He argues that unless the society’s attitude towards what is expected from childhood changes, the law will remain slow moving. (Holt, 2013) The children of rich families have easy access to money, however children from deprived families struggle to get money in a legitimate way. Therefore working would be the only honest way of accessing money and denying children this right, may lead to them taking the path of criminality. (Holt, 2013)
The Essay on Child Labor Children Work Today
Honors World Geography 9-3 April 10, 1997 Stolen Childhood What would you do if your childhood was stolen How would this robbery, commonly called child labor, affect your life This problem is still present today. Something must be done to stop it. The social problem of child labor did not just simply disappear after the industrial revolution. It had persisted then in America and England, and it is ...
Some children find that learning in a school environment can be boring, they might not be academically capable and might be eager to start working and experiencing the adult world. This way children may get a flavour of what to expect from the world and may eventually look back and decide what for them the best way is of live. However due to legislation and society’s protective attitude, children are often denied the chance of making this important decisions about their own lives. ( Holt, 2013) Although Holt’s (2013) views on children’s right to work seem convincing, it is important to balance the advantages and disadvantages of children working.
According to Lavalette (1999), it is believed by most adults that work can be positive for children. As said before one of the reasons why children work is to earn some additional pocket money. The views of the adults rely on the fact that these working experiences may help teaching responsibility, making them aware of the importance of money and introducing them to the adult world. Furthermore it is argued that child work brings additional benefits to the child, such as improving social skills and enhancing education. (Heaven, 1994, cited in Lavalette,1999).
Although, these arguments may seem convincing, it is important to make a critical analysis, in order to understand how relevant they might be to children, having into consideration that they only perform part-time work. (Lavalette, 1999)
The first and most convincing argument is that work enhances children’s academic performance as it gives them the chance to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired in the classroom. Similarly the skills acquired in the workplace might in turn enhance education. (Lavalette, 1999) However, according to Greenberger (1983, cited in Lavalette, 1999) although data shows that children doing jobs related to business, economics and consumers performed better in tests, most jobs undertaken by children require a very low level of training. Therefore it will provide little opportunities for children to apply their academic knowledge. (Greenberger, 1988, cited in Lavalette)
The Essay on Adults Because Certain Childhood Life Person Child
Childhood history has a lot to do with how we live as adults because certain childhood events could trigger something that would last a life time. Take for example if a child fails at something and the parent does nothing to help the child, the child will grow up thinking that failing is alright and that he or she will have a hard time in life with their job or in school or life in general. Many ...
It could also be argued that although work might not enhance specific skills, it might provide children with the chance to learn wider skills, such as teamwork and socialisation. Consequently, this would help the children developing awareness of others and give them the opportunity to develop social skills in a number of different situations. Steinberg (1981, cited in Lavalette, 1999) argues that studies show that work does have an impact in children’s socio-cognitive skills. Therefore, working children may have a better understanding of social relationships and are able to understand the ideologies and roles of others. (Steinberg, 1981, cited in Lavalette, 1999) However it is important to understand that some children perform tedious and repetitive tasks that may not provide children with the chances to interact with other people. (Greenberg, 1988)
The number of hours children work can also be reflected on academic success. Although some evidence points out an enhancement in school performance, when children do certain jobs, it is important to consider that the amount of working hours might have a negative impact. D’Amico (1984, cited in Lavalette, 1999) draws attention to the fact that if children work for more than twenty hours a week, they will spend less time doing homework, which in turn would be resumed to a decline in academic performance. Therefore it is necessary to be cautious when making assumptions about the advantages of children working. (Lavalette, 1999)
Another issue related to child labour, is the impact that it might have on adult employment.
Although we tend to look at child labour as harmful for children, it is important to understand that it might also have negative repercussions on adults.Maybin and Woodhead (2003) argue that there are two main arguments surrounding the fact that child labour, might also be harmful for adults. The first one would be that children working may directly harm adults, as they will be occupying jobs leaving adults unemployed. The second argument is that the children work for very low wages, consequently forcing adult wages to be brought down. Therefore children doing work that otherwise would be occupied by an adult, does not directly mean that their contribution to the economy would be any more or less than an adult taking a job from another adult. (Maybin and Woodhead, 2003) However the fact that children work for lower wages, changes the picture. If adults are the ones taking this jobs, their wages will certainly be higher, which will in turn result in a higher level of investment, making a superior contribution to the economy.
The Term Paper on Child Memory Memories Abuse Childhood
Title: Relations Among Childhood Memory, a History of Abuse, Dissociation, and Repression. Subject (s): CHILD abuse; REPRESSION (Psychology); DISSOCIATION (Psychology) Source: Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Nov 99, Vol. 14 Issue 11, p 1172, 21 p, 2 charts Author (s): Melchert, Timothy P. Abstract: The author of this study investigated several questions regarding the relationships between a ...
To summarise, work can be seen harmful for children, but if regulations are in place and children are protected by law, work can also be pleasant. However it is important that the decision about whether or not children should work is one that needs to be made, taking into consideration the children’s opinion.
The Romanticised ideology of childhood should not be taken to an extreme, leaving space for children to have some input on decisions that directly affect them. Children’s voices should be heard and adults should mainly serve as guides, avoiding an oppressive position over children’s lives.
Finally it is important to point that ending child labour is a complex task that cannot be completed, unless decent alternatives are in place for children. Simply ending child labour would make it worse and would compromise the children’s chances of survival.
Bibliography and referencing list:
Bennet, A. (1995) A working life: Child labour through the nineteenth century Oxford: Waterfront Publications
Clark, A. (2003) Childhood in context Bristol: The open university
Gifford, C. (2009) Voices: Child labour London: Evans Brothers Limited
Holt, J. Escape from childhood: The needs and rights of children. United States: HoltGWS LLC
Humphries, J. (2010) Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kussmaul, A. (1990) A General View of the Rural Economy of England, 1538-1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kielland, A. and Tovo, M. (2006) Children at work: Child Labour Practices In Africa. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.
Lavalette, M.(1999) A thing of the past: Child labour in Britain in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Liverpool:Liverpool University Press
Maybin, J. and Woodhead, M. (2003) Childhood in context. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Montgomery, H and Kellett, M (2009) Children and young people’s worlds: developing frameworks for integrated practice Bristol: The Policy Press
Stearman, K (2005) Child labour: Just the facts. Oxford: Heinemann Library.
Wells, K (2009) Childhood in a global perspective. Cambridge: Polity Press
William, A. (2011) The sociology of Childhood London: Sage Publications.
Hounsell, D.( 2013) Hidden from view: The experiences of young carers in England [online] Available at: http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/tcs/hidden_from_view_-_final.pdf Last accessed: 29/04/14
O’Brien, D. (2014) Picturing Children: Constructions of Childhood Between Rousseau and Freud [online] Available at: http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn03/74-autumn03/autumn03review/264-picturing-children-constructions-of-childhood-between-rousseau-and-freud-ed-marilyn-r-brown Last accessed: 01/05/2014
The Children’s society (2013) Report reveals impact on young carers [online] Available at: http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/news-views/press-release/report-reveals-impact-young-carers Last accessed: 29/04/14
Tuttle, C. (2001) Child Labor during the British Industrial Revolution. EH.Net Encyclopedia [online] Available at: http://eh.net/encyclopedia/child-labor-during-the-british-industrial-revolution/ Last accessed: 29/04/14
