The Misunderstood Practice of Child Labor

            In today’s society, the Western world is driven by the idea that it must press its ideals upon all others.  This has been the trend for the past century and is the reason why poor countries across the globe are in such economic turmoil.  Throughout history, children have been a crucial part of a developing society’s workforce.  But now the Western world has moved past this stage in its development and decided that through the power of the United States and such organizations as the U.N. and the European Union, they will change all other societies.  They are determining whether or not it is right to have a child labor force.  When considering the choices that are available, it is apparent that these groups have significant influence on foreign countries and the decisions these nations make.  Yet, these groups need to realize that their only responsibility as major powers should be to support other countries’ traditions by looking past the misrepresented face of child labor and promoting its rewards to societies while making the workplace safer for children.

            By taking action against the practices of child labor in foreign countries, the United States, European Union, and the U.N. will be undermining the independence of foreign nations, thereby negatively affecting the cultures and social structures that these societies have been based on for centuries.  Western society must realize that the act of children working full days in other countries is comparable to sending children to school in America.  The benefit to sending children to work as opposed to paying for schooling, in what usually are poor countries, is the fact that they are receiving a salary for a service which is crucial to their survival in both the present and the future.  The notion that it is wrong for children to work is the type of one-sided thinking which prohibits people from seeing the good that can come from it.  In other cultures, children are given a higher level of respect once they have proven themselves to be old enough to help provide for their family.  Once they reach this level, no matter the age, they are considered young adults and are officially productive members of society.  In the end, “International pressure to reduce child labor does some good…but ultimately, ‘a cultural change…has to come from within developing countries’ ” (Wasserman, pars 6).  Without an effort for change within these countries in need of help, outside forces will be unable to lend the maximum amount of aid.  In the event that the U.N. attempts to implement culture changes within other countries, they will most likely end up hurting the country in the long run.  This happened in India about fifty years ago when the United States tried to impart a societal change upon India.  America changed India into an economy which was based on child labor by establishing manufacturing plants.  Consequently, until the day when less-developed countries can come to a societal change, there does not serve a purpose for other outside organizations to disturb the cultural balance which exists.

            If people in the U.S. and Europe knew child labor was not as bad as it tends to be portrayed, as well as the fact that it is a cultural tradition in many countries, they would be able to recognize its benefits thereby relieving organizations such as the U.N. from having to wrongfully deal with that issue.  This misconception that Western society has is due to the fact that the media chooses to report the worst forms of child labor in order to make compelling human interest stories. These stories are  wrongfully represented by slavery, debt bondage, sexual exploitation, the use of children for drug trafficking and in armed conflict, as well as other hazardous work which has all been defined as being the Worst Forms of Child Labor (Miller, pars 4).  As a result of portrayals such as these, there is a large movement in society to fight against the practice of child labor. After the approval of the U.S. Senate to enforce the rules of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, they claimed to “continue as a world leader in the fight to eliminate exploitative and abusive child labor” (Presidential Documents, pars 2).  Actions such as this benefit the world and the labor markets in general because this statement bypasses the idea that child labor must be eliminated.  A successful completion of the Senate’s mission with the aide of the U.N. and the European Union would lead to the ability to provide children with great options for work, and the image of the deformed child working with heavy machinery will be nothing more than a memory of the past.  Even though child labor has been given such a bad image, the true form can still be seen in the fact that “three-quarters of all children [in the labor force] work in agriculture with their families” (Vaknin, pars 17), while only a few percent are actually in rough working conditions such as mining or construction.  It is information such as this that must be relayed to the masses in order to help influence the powerful groups in control of the rest of the world.

            Although the organizations that wish to end child labor are led by good intentions, it would be a devastating economic blow to families in poorer regions.  There are usually many reasons that children work in factories at young ages, including debt bondage and poverty.  Options for employment as a child are usually limited in poor countries where child labor is prominent.  Schooling is not usually considered to be an option since the education available rarely improves the child’s life in the future, while working will provide the child and his family with an extra income.  In general, whether or not children work will mean the difference between living and dying for many poor families in the world.  There are also special circumstances which arise throughout people’s lives that force them to make decisions that can affect their lives and the lives of their children.  At the time when the Taliban was in control of Afghanistan, much of the male population had been killed in war and women were not allowed to work.  At this time, it became necessary for the child to work in order to provide for his family (Carrier, pars 4).  However, it is possible for families to benefit in the long run if child labor is banned.  If it was possible to enroll the children in a school that would lead to the children to a chance for economic advancement, then all efforts by foreign organization would be beneficial.  The problem is that there are not opportunities for children to become economically well off in these impoverished countries.  The only result of the prevention of child labor would be countless families that were unable to earn enough money to survive.  It is for reasons such as these that child labor must always be left as an option for families to have in times of hardship.

One of the greatest contributions that these organizations can make to the child labor market is to better the working conditions, thereby providing an appropriate environment for these children to spend their days and possibly improving upon the level of poverty that their families live in.  Groups supporting child labor agree with this idea and believe it to be a valid solution.  This plan, which still permits child labor, allows children and society to remain where they are in regards to cultural backgrounds while improving their working standards in terms of a higher level of cleanliness, shorter work days, and an overall higher level of safety.  Also, by providing fair treatment for the children, there will not be an ugly face by which other cultures use to judge and impose their biased views upon other societies.  Yet even after solutions such as this, there will be roadblocks in the way, including the ideas of the uninformed.  Assefa Bequele, a speaker at the International Conference on Child Labor of 1997 in Oslo, Norway, stated that “we are all here for a common cause, and we dream the same dream, of a world where children are at school and not at work, doing homework and not building homes” (Miller, pars 11).  When opinions such as this arise, they serve only the purpose of influencing others to take the radical standpoint and ignore the wants or needs of other cultures.  Surprisingly, there are groups of children that have formed to fight not against child labor, but against the negative aspects of child labor.  “They decided to devote a year to working against maltreatment on all levels…” (Schawb, pars 5).  This group of Ecuadorian children formed an assembly to fight for working conditions based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child thereby taking a small step towards improving the conditions for all workers across the world.  As groups such as this rise up and develop support, it will not be long before the European Union is there to enforce fair conditions which the children have fought to achieve.

It is clear that the mission of the United States, U.N., and European Union should be to support the choices of countries based on child labor around the world.  Until the day that cultures have changed to encourage the schooling of children, the practice of child labor will stay the same.  If this day ever comes, it must be followed by an increase in economic prosperity through money made in businesses usually worked in by children.  This can only be achieved through an increase in the level of technology which Western society has.  The Western world produces its goods for a cheaper than normal cost because of advanced technology and low income countries use their advantage of cheap labor to compete in a global market.  This transition from cheap labor to technology is the final change which must be made if a market free from child labor is actually desired.