Child Labour is not inherently 'wrong'

[Illuminattile]

The following may or may not be my own personal views.

Child labour, in itself, is not "evil".

Picture a family in a developing country. Both parents are trying to support a large family with their low-paying jobs. They have three real options:

1: Send the children to work in a local factory manufacturing Adidas trainers for a pittance.
2: Sell the children into prostitution.
3: Starve.

None of those options are in any way desirable, but option 1 is clearly the lesser of three evils. The pay, hours and conditions might be horrendous, but if it's the only way to survive, it's the sensible option.

Outlawing child labour in this particular country or region would do nothing to help that family. The emphasis should be on making child labour no longer a necessity, by providing other options to families. The companies who use child labour, directly or indirectly (and there are a *lot* of them) should take more responsibility for their actions.

Discuss.

 

[Sebastian]

Outlawing child labour in this particular country or region would do nothing to help that family. The emphasis should be on making child labour no longer a necessity, by providing other options to families. The companies who use child labour, directly or indirectly (and there are a *lot* of them) should take more responsibility for their actions.

thats of course true and right...but do u think it will happen? no, it wont. as long as companies can increase their profit by benefitting from low wages in 3rd world countries they will do it.

 

[Khaled]

The following may or may not be my own personal views.

Child labour, in itself, is not "evil".

Picture a family in a developing country. Both parents are trying to support a large family with their low-paying jobs. They have three real options:

1: Send the children to work in a local factory manufacturing Adidas trainers for a pittance.
2: Sell the children into prostitution.
3: Starve.

None of those options are in any way desirable, but option 1 is clearly the lesser of three evils. The pay, hours and conditions might be horrendous, but if it's the only way to survive, it's the sensible option.

Outlawing child labour in this particular country or region would do nothing to help that family. The emphasis should be on making child labour no longer a necessity, by providing other options to families. The companies who use child labour, directly or indirectly (and there are a *lot* of them) should take more responsibility for their actions.

Discuss.

i think if you can't afford children... don't have them
i saw that report on TV with a very poor family complaining about poverty and they have 6 children...

 

[The.Menace]

Picture a family in a developing country. Both parents are trying to support a large family with their low-paying jobs. They have three real options:

1: Send the children to work in a local factory manufacturing Adidas trainers for a pittance.
2: Sell the children into prostitution.
3: Starve.

the thing is, it just shouldn't be nessecairy.... but it is and that is the sad thing.

i think if you can't afford children... don't have them

In poor countries children are your rent. If u are old and can no longer work, the children gonna take care of u. If u have no children, u'll just die if u can no longer work....that's why everyone has children and the more children u have, the bigger is the chance that someone will take care of u later.

 

[Khaled]

In poor countries children are your rent. If u are old and can no longer work, the children gonna take care of u. If u have no children, u'll just die if u can no longer work....that's why everyone has children and the more children u have, the bigger is the chance that someone will take care of u later.

kinda selfish don t you think?

 

[The.Menace]

Yeah, but if the state doesn't take care of you, you figure out your own ways ....kinda logical, don't u think? .... so that is how it works, at least one reason why it is this way.

 

[Amara]

The emphasis should be on making child labour no longer a necessity, by providing other options to families. The companies who use child labour, directly or indirectly (and there are a *lot* of them) should take more responsibility for their actions.

What is "evil" is the inequity of high-tech development and immense wealth centralised in the "advanced" societies, yet not nearly enough is being done to relieve the intense struggle many people are forced to endure in order to survive. Banning child labour won't solve the problem, it goes much deeper than that, at the root of the problem is the maintenance of economic disadvantage that could easily be resolved, but in the interests of greed and capital profit, governments and corporations choose to disregard the greater interests of humanity as a whole. There is the selfishness you spoke of, Khaled.

 

[The.Menace]

^^ word up amara. nice post.