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July 1998 |
Working Children
There are children all over the world who don't have the chance to an education. They have to work. What should come first, children's education or work? Children need to be educated, they need to go to school, if they don't, their families poverty will continue in a cycle of working as children and then having low paying jobs as adults.
Many children in third world countries work 10 to 12 hours a day, or even longer hours. They work in factories where they are forced to make match sticks, cigarettes, carpets, footballs and cloth. They dig coal, haul bricks and worst of all, they are made to handle hot glass and metal without any gloves, helmets or goggles.
In Nepal, women and children carry bricks on their heads; they are paid twenty-five ($0.25) every one-hundred (100) trips. In Cholomlo, Honduras, boys are responsible for making soft balls, for other children to play with. Children are also forced to work on the streets, which might be the worst kind of child labor. They shine shoes in front of hotels, they carry luggage, wash and guard cars. They are exposed to the risk of getting involved in crimes, drugs and worst of all in prostitution.
Children are also forced to work in private homes, as servants. Children that work in homes wash clothing and carry it, they cook, they clean and mind their employers children. In Burkina Faso, women carry children on their backs while they sweep and clean as well as do other household chores and farm work.
In many countries children live in fear of making enough money to avoid being beaten, or even molested, by their parents or guardians. They should not have to ever feel afraid. Children should have safety at home, they should want to go home not stay in the street. I think that it is so very sad that some kids feel safer on the street than at home
I do not believe that children deserve to have to do this kind of work. They should be able to enjoy their childhood and grow up to be healthy adults.
Carolyn Taylor is an editor of the upcoming Derechos Kids website. She is 13 years-old and lives in the United States. Her column on children's rights will appear periodically in this newsletter. Derechos encourages all children to send us articles, stories and art to include in this publication or on the Derechos Kids site.
