Child labor is a serious problem due to the conditions of poverty third world citizens live in and a lack of quality education to the poor. But can child labor just be abolished? When news broke out in 1995 that children assembled soccer balls for Baden Sports in Pakistan, the company consequently closed down its factory and moved to another location where cheap, non-child labor was used. This caused great turmoil in Pakistan, because children and adults alike were out of work with nowhere else to go. "Stopping child labor without doing anything else could leave children worse off" states former secretary of labor Robert Reich. If they are working out of necessity, as most are, stopping them could force them into much less desirable situations like prostitution or even more dangerous employment (Wasserman 1). Reich also states that "the most important thing is that they be in school and receive the education to help them leave poverty."
Globalization has created a stir in the world's economy. Due to flaccid rules and regulations, children are often put to work in an economy they shouldn't be concerned with at their age. Forcing them to work as a child in often abominable conditions can only bond them forever to poverty. Countries need to rethink their developmental process; aid money is often wasted on impractical
and unnecessary government projects because of SAPs, rather than concentrating on social programs for the children who are the potential of the country. As shown, educating the children can only reduce poverty in a country. Rethink the process of development now, in order to ensure that the children have a future.
|
