Child Labour

[Guest Central Fusion]

I was wondering what you though about Child Labour? I think it's wrong and they should pay those kids at least minimum wage and not 8 cents an hour.


*link removed*

[Shinmaru]

I'm all for child labor. I mean, who else is going to make our trendy, overpriced clothing? Surely not anybody working [i]here[/i]!

[Panda]

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[b]On topic[/b]: Child labor. I am assuming you are referring to child labor as found in "sweat shops". In many of those economically depressed countries that 8 cents an hour is what helps keep their families alive. Also more than likely the places these kids are working don't have or don't enforce a set minimum wage or child labor laws. The kids have to work in order to pay for food and other staples of living. Many adults don't earn much more than that with their paychecks.

Child labor is wrong when taken to an extreme. Kids should be concentrating on their education not if they are going to eat that night. Child labor to the lesser extent is not a problem. A kid having a paper route after school is also child labor. These kids, of course, are not pushed to the limits those of sweat shops. I grew up working on a farm. I never got paid but the money earned from the family farm went to pay for our everyday cost of living. In that sense I did get paid.

It's terrible that kids have to work in those conditions just to survive.

edit: Obviously Shinmaru must buy Kathie Lee Gifford's fashionable Wal-Mart line of child labor clothing. :p

[Japan]

[COLOR=Indigo]Well, I am not particularly fond of Child Labour, but people are going to keep buying the items made by them no matter what. They would display some mouth if you were to close them down and end up having their favorite items become more expensive or poorly made.[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[quote name='Japan_86][COLOR=Indigo']Well, I am not particularly fond of Child Labour, but people are going to keep buying the items made by them no matter what.[/COLOR][/quote]
[size=1]And therefore we should stand by and watch children be exploited? I mean, of course, that's just the way it is -- why don't we just throw in the towel now.

Dont refer to child labor as if it's just one of those necessary evils. What people should be doing now is fighting for major corporations to allow Unions for their workers. That's the way every other country got out from under the wheels of capitalism, and that's the way it can be solved in these developing countries.

And in the meantime, don't help Nike, Wal-Mart, and Starbucks exploit their workers. Try to find food and clothing not made in sweatshops. I understand that it's extremely hard, especially for clothing, but make the conscious effort. Even the thrift store works -- if you get things from there, you don't help the corporation, as your purchase goes only to the store.

Don't sit around thinking "Ah, someone else will do something" or "It's wrong, but what can I do?" Do something about it -- even if it's something small. That's how change starts.[/size]

[Sayuri-sama]

shinmaru i must tell you that i think you are being totally selfish in you formation of this topic. i am, for one, completly against child labor. why should little children in countries like china and turkey and etc. have to work their behinds off just so we can look nice and have nice things. doesnt anybody ever think about them? dont you think they want to look nice and trendy and what not? child labor is totallly cruel. if you talking about child labor in sweat factories that is. it is very unjust.

[Japan]

[QUOTE=Retribution][size=1]And therefore we should stand by and watch children be exploited? I mean, of course, that's just the way it is -- why don't we just throw in the towel now.

Dont refer to child labor as if it's just one of those necessary evils. What people should be doing now is fighting for major corporations to allow Unions for their workers. That's the way every other country got out from under the wheels of capitalism, and that's the way it can be solved in these developing countries.

And in the meantime, don't help Nike, Wal-Mart, and Starbucks exploit their workers. Try to find food and clothing not made in sweatshops. I understand that it's extremely hard, especially for clothing, but make the conscious effort. Even the thrift store works -- if you get things from there, you don't help the corporation, as your purchase goes only to the store.

Don't sit around thinking "Ah, someone else will do something" or "It's wrong, but what can I do?" Do something about it -- even if it's something small. That's how change starts.[/size][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=Indigo]I'd die before I'd buy anything from them. That's how it has been for the past eight years. Make your own coffee, everyone. [/COLOR]

[Shinmaru]

[quote name='Sayuri-sama']shinmaru i must tell you that i think you are being totally selfish in you formation of this topic.[/quote]

Note to self: Make sarcasm more obvious from here on out.

For the record, I buy much of my clothing from thrift stores, though I'm sure at least [i]some[/i] of it must have been made via some form of unsavory labor.

[Annie]

[QUOTE=Shinmaru]
For the record, I buy much of my clothing from thrift stores, though I'm sure at least [i]some[/i] of it must have been made via some form of unsavory labor.[/QUOTE]

[size=1]Hells yes! Salvation Army rocks the house. There's some amazing stuff in there..

Anyway, of course it's not right to make children work under the conditions in which they might encounter. Sadly, there's nothing much one can do about it. Unless you want to wait for America to go charging in to save the day..again.
:rolleyes:

Child labor is something that's been around for ages, but thankfully, it's been cracked down on more today than 100 years ago.[/size]

[jigglyness]

I'm not really for or against child labor. I mean sometimes if the condition calls for it, a child needs to help the family make money especially if their parents are unable to make any kind of income to the family. "sweat shops" are real cruel and I'm mostly against it but sometimes you just can't help it, ya know? It's just one of those things you can't really control. I used to help my mom around her factory when she needed me to since I was a little kid when we needed the money.

[Shinjitsu]

[color=dodgerblue]I guess it would depend on the circumstances. You see, 13-year-olds are called children, and yet they can 'work' on a paper-round. But yeah, I get where you're coming from. I disagree with Child Labour. Even if they are given higher wages and less work, they're still children. If they work while they're children, then where would their childhood be? It's really sad that kids have to work in some countries just to get food or shelter, not just in sweatshops, but also in prostitution. Kids get taken from their homes in remote villages, being promised a nice job as a waitress/waitor, and end up being trafficked for sex in Thailand, for example; which is an even worse form of 'child labor'. As I said, it depends on the circumstances. Though 99.9% of the time I'd have to disagree with it. Why buy 'expensive brand' clothing when you can make your own? It's like our feelings of self-worth are more important than kids' dignity. Meh, I rambled ~_~[/color]

[DeathKnight]

[quote name='Retribution][size=1']Don't sit around thinking "Ah, someone else will do something" or "It's wrong, but what can I do?" Do something about it -- even if it's something small. That's how change starts.[/size][/quote]

[color=crimson]Awesome zen moment you had there, Retri. I know I felt inspired to get up and seize the day. *takes a long sip of Starbucks coffee* Yeah, I think today is going to be a day of positive changes and achievements for myself.

I'd say that ol' Panda-sama has the right idea. When taken to the extremes of sweatshops and the like it is obviously negative. I'm not really aware of the conditions involved that spawn that level of hardship so I can't say if it's "necessary" or not.

I think that whatever actions can be taken to alleviate [some of] the burden off of the families/children involved should be done. I'm always kind of a softie for the plight of children- sweatshop kids, orphans, adoptees (especially adoptees/orphans) and the like.

I just wish there was more that could be done to help them.[/color]

[Retribution]

[quote name='DeathKnight][color=crimson']Awesome zen moment you had there, Retri. I know I felt inspired to get up and seize the day. *takes a long sip of Starbucks coffee* Yeah, I think today is going to be a day of positive changes and achievements for myself.[/color][/quote]
[size=1]I can't separate the sarcasm from the seriousness, if there is any seriousness there. I'll get you one day, DeathKnight. ;_;

Anyway, there's something wrong with sweatshops in general, not just the fact that children work there. Adults deserve equal rights as well -- we shouldn't stop giving our sympathy to those who are "too old."[/size]

[Guest darkcop]

Child labour should be abolished altogether.
It is inhumane and revolting that 9-year-old kids should actually sew Adidas soccer balls and get paid [B]4 cents an hour[/B] while the soccer ball fetches [B]1000 times[/B] their wages.
I shall name another example.
Young adolescents are being forced to work at mine shafts or chalk pits and carry loads up to [B]10 kilograms[/B] and they are only paid one meal a day. Mind you, it's only a couple of scoops of rice and some scrap of vegetables.
It's not surprising that even under these severe conditions, the children are still adamant on working. And why so?
Simply because if they go back home empty handed,

1) They would be beaten half alive by abusive and exploitive parents.
2) There weren?t be any hot meals awaiting his/her arrival. You want food? Work for it.
3) They don?t have a home, dear. They live there.

Saw this.

[I]Well, I am not particularly fond of Child Labour, but people are going to keep buying the items made by them no matter what. They would display some mouth if you were to close them down and end up having their favourite items become more expensive or poorly made.[/I]

Well obviously people are going to keep buying them because the manufacturers can afford to sell them at attractive prices because the manufacturing cost = 50 cents. Pricing the ball at thirty dollars would be enough to make a decent fortune out of it.

Thus, the government (if they even want to help) should focus on weeding out this corruption, which stains certain key industries,.

For example: yes, Child Sex. Please stop it.
Plenty of children work in garment factories for twelve hours straight too.

I really pity these children. No child should be subjected to such a demoralising life, especially when what they require is a loving family. Countless of these children grow up to be social recluses because they were too traumatised.

Suffice to say, to those who are oblivious to this, please start to advocate anti-child labour ideals and spread the word.

-darkcop

[KatanaViolet]

I would like to say that I abbhor it, despite the fact that probably half of what I own (if not more) was produced by child labour.

It's sad, we pay how much for things that the workers who made it get paid pennies for. It's a violation to human rights.
Sadly, many apparel manufacturers contract out their production to take advantage of cheap labour and overhead costs.

It's disgusting, immoral, but since it doesn't happen to us, people seem to turn a blind eye. :animesigh
How depressing.

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]Child Labor that exploits a child is terrible. As much as I want to help by not buying stuff that uses children to make it, it?s hard since I don?t know which items to avoid. >_< I try but it?s not that simple. Part of the problem is this:

[I]The International Labor Organization (ILO) has estimated that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries-at least 120 million on a full time basis. Sixty-one percent of these are in Asia, 32 percent in Africa, and 7 percent in Latin America. Most working children in rural areas are found in agriculture; many children work as domestics; urban children work in trade and services, with fewer in manufacturing and construction. [/I]

If you want to know more visit this site: [URL=http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm][COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][B]Human Rights Watch[/B][/COLOR] [/URL]

There are a lot of children being used so it?s not that easy to fix. And a lot of powerful businessmen in other countries do not care if they are being used since it makes them rich.

There?s also the problem that large cooperation?s are greedy and unwilling to quit buying products from companies that they know uses child labor. They claim it?s because people won?t buy things if they cost more, but if it didn?t mean more profit, they wouldn?t do it.

Sadly on some level they are correct though. A lot of people do want something for nothing. For some, they have no choice, they get paid so little that they can?t afford to pay more. I know my Mom shops at Wal-Mart since she can?t afford to buy things at other places. >_< And it doesn?t help that the wages here in Utah aren?t the best.

If we know for sure that something comes from child labor that?s taking advantage of the children then my Mom does try to find somewhere else to buy things. It?s really frustrating since wages rarely go up here. Take the minimum wage here in Utah. It hasn?t gone up in almost 10 years! The government here in Utah keeps finding excuses for why they refuse to raise the minimum wage. My Mom worked in fast food ten years ago and employees today get paid less than she did ten years ago! >_<

I?m sure it helps that people do avoid things that come from child labor, but we need major changes that keep big companies like Wal-Mart from being allowed to purchase it in the first place. Though I?m sure that something that drastic would take time as it would have serious economic repercussions. [/COLOR]