“Corporate Social Responsibility: Tackling Child Labour Issue”
General Phenomenon
International relations, or international politics, is not merely a field of study at university but is an integral aspect of our everyday lives. We now live in a world where it is impossible to isolate our experiences and transactions from an international dimension. If a student watches the sitcom Friends or Glee actually they are both learning about and participating in a culture differences form their own. If a student flies from Indonesia to Singapore, they are subject to international air space agreements and contributing to global warming. If a student chooses to by a fair trade coffee, they are making a conscious decision about contributing to a state
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The problem is the case of child labour should be decreasing rather than increasing. Actually the countries that have children labour already recognized the need for the elimination of child labour and have implemented several measures designed to meliorate the problem but the practice continues to be found throughout the industries and in the private sector. Examples of industries employing children are the technology industry, fashion industry, food industry, and …show more content…
Nestle has only one goal, which is “to get cheap, quality chocolate to as many people as possible.” Nestle agreed to end the use of abusive and forced child labour on cocoa farms by July 2005, but they failed to do so. In code of conduct from Nestle, it prohibits the use of child labour in its supply chain. Nestle had made substantial efforts to inform farmers about its code of conduct, awareness of the code was low among farmers, with farmers sometimes unable to attend training sessions due to either “lack of interest or time.” It also found that farms lacked any kind of age verification system for workers to stop the use of child
Throughout time children have worked myriad hours in hazardous workplaces in order to make a few cents to a few dollars. This is known as child labor, where children are risking their lives daily for money. Today child labor continues to exist all over the world and even in the United States where children pick fruits and vegetables in difficult conditions. According to the article, “What is Child Labor”; it states that roughly 215 million children around the world are working between the ages of 5 and 17 in harmful workplaces. Child labor continues to exist because many families live in poverty and with more working hands there is an increase in income. Other families take their children to work in the fields because they have no access to childcare and extra money is beneficial to buy basic needs. Although there are laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, stronger enforcement is required because child labor not only exploits children but also has detrimental effects on a child’s health, education, and the people of the nation.
Once the Civil War finally ended the United States began to face many problems. During the late 1800s and the early 1900s the women's suffrage, labor laws, and the US regime were all reformed. The middle class campaigners, wanted to abolish all the harsh treatments that came with the sizably voluminous, growing, businesses. The control of supply or trade in a service also known as a monopoly, child labor, and corruption were apprised to the public by the muckrakers, that had a very bad impact. Upton Sinclair the author of (The Jungle) wrote mostly of the awful working conditions for the immigrants working in the meatpacking businesses. This really caught the eye of almost all americans. His book even had an impact on Theodore Roosevelt, enough
The problems is that children are facing harsh condition that may harm their health from the long 8 hour of work, while only earning 10 cents per day (Doc 7). Child Labor is a problem that will become a danger to children life. It evidently is unfair that a child only earn 10 cents for the amount of labor they put to get money. Children are too young and immature to handle tough labor, they should be educated to succeed. However, for the children in labor, they are facing long-term health problems from dust and debris in mine or factory that may shorten their lifespan (O.I). If the problem were to continue, it would affect the population of US led to development of child labor
A survey done every four years says that there has been less child labor in countries such as India and Morocco than in the United States (Barta and others). Some companies overseas have strict policies against child labor; for example, a toy factory in China will not accept children for work because they feel children should not be forced to do hard labor for any amount of money. On the opposing side, in some places child labor is a huge problem such as Africa and parts of Asia. For example, in Bangladesh several under 18 workers were found working in Rana Plaza and a 15 year old worker died in a factory accident in May, according to Kate O’Keeffe of the Wall Street Journal. O’ Keeffe also writes, “There is concern that child labor will go for the worse rather than for better, especially if Western economies rebound stronger.”
Child Labour In the past few years, a great deal of attention has been drawn to the global problem of child labour. Virtually everyone is guilty of participating in this abusive practice through the purchase of goods made in across the globe, usually in poor, developing nations. This issue has been around for a great length of time but has come to the forefront recently because of reports that link well known American companies like Wal-Mart and Nike to the exploitation of children. Prior to this media attention, many Americans and other people in developed nation were blind to the reality of the oppressive conditions that are reality to many.
Think about the cotton in your shirt, the sugar in your coffee, and the shoes on your feet, all of which could be products of child labor. Child labor is a practice that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity and includes over 200 million children worldwide who are involved in the production of goods for companies and industries willing to exploit these kids for profit. Although most countries have laws prohibiting child labor, a lack of funding and manpower means that these laws are rarely enforced on a large scale. However, even for a first-world country like the United States, that has a large number of state and federal law enforcement officers, child labor is still a problem because priority is given to crimes that are more violent or heinous. Child labor must be made a priority issue because it is a global plague whose victims are physically and psychologically scarred, lack a proper education, are impoverished, and whose children are doomed to the same fate if nothing changes.
For the purpose of this essay, Britain will be concentrated on to discover the historical approach to child labour along with compulsory schooling, plus the effects this had on the lives of children and their families. The last two hundred years from the 1800’s to 2000 are explored to recognize the issues surrounding prolonging childhood in mainly Britain. It was here child labour was initially recognised in factories, mills and mines in the early nineteenth century. This essay will demonstrate the various changes during this period, and the differences between the working class and upper class childhoods and the differences between the childhoods of two hundred years ago, and that of today. As a result, this essay will describe the changes in the experiences and opinions of childhood to the prolonging of childhood in Britain.
Child labor refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely or by requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work (International Labor Organization). Child labor has been a big problem ever since the Victorian Era. Many counties worldwide have used and still to this day use child labor. Though there are many laws that have been implemented against using children to work, many countries tend to ignore them. In my paper I will be discussing countries where child labor is present, push to stop child labor, companies that use child labor, the effects on children, and the reasons for child labor.
Child Labor is not an isolated problem. The phenomenon of child labor is an effect of economic discrimination. In different parts of the world, at different stages of histories, laboring of child has been a part of economic life. More than 200 million children worldwide, some are as young as 4 and 5 years old, are slaves to the production line. These unfortunate children manufacture shoes, matches, clothing, rugs and countless other products that are flooding the American market and driving hard-working Americans out of jobs. These children worked long hours, were frequently beaten, and were paid a pittance. In 1979, a study shows more than 50 million children below the age of 16 were considered child labor (United Nation labors agency data). In 1998, according to the Campaign for Labor rights that is a NGO and United Nation Labor Agency, 250 million children around the world are working in farms, factories, and household. Some human rights experts indicate that there are as many as 400 million children under the age of 15 are performing forced labor either part or full-time under unsafe work environment. Based upon the needs of the situation, there are specific areas of the world where the practice of child labor is taking place. According to the journal written by Basu, Ashagrie gat...
The Adverse Affects of Child Labor and Impact on Lifestyles According to Sustainable Trade Initiative (2014), child labour refers to work that is intolerable for children due to young age or exposure to hazardous conditions which can be defined in ILO Convention No.182. Several causes of global child labor starts from poverty with decreased levels of employment causing difficulty in attaining basic daily necessities for decent quality of life. Another issue is the number of limited policies on providing access to free education to provide future opportunities. Although there are policies in place for the welfare for children worldwide, these policies are often violated due to lack of enforcement.
So I believe that the issue of child labour is not simple. As Unicef’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report argued, children’s work needs to be seen as having two extremes. On one hand, there is the destructive or exploitative work and, on the other hand, there is beneficial work - promoting or enhancing children’s development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest. ‘And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s development.’ My firm belief is that there is a difference between child labour and child work and that in both cases the issue is whether or not the child is deliberately being exploited.
International Relations (IR) theories are useful because they can provide a simplifying lens for looking at complicated global phenomena, which can help us predict what is to come in the future. IR theories are important because their uses go much further than simply academia. They shape and frame the thinking and understanding of foreign policy makers and governments, who translate these ideas into global actions like conflicts and global responses. They use IR theories to make decisions, distinguish themselves, and to articulate
If we try to solve these problems, the rate of child labour will reduce by 50 percent. With this confidence, for the last three years we are conducting the programmes of educational awareness for eradication of child labour. 4. Causes of Child Labour : Problems faced by parents, social backwardness, illiteracy and dislike for schooling, etc.
International relations study is a major discipline in social science, which illustrates politics on international scale. International relations(IR) periodically study the history, culture, government, economy, culture, and social aspects of nations around the globe. Study of international relations(IR) is becoming so vital for every nation to understand other countries national interests in terms of security and economy within the host nation. As we are in the twenty first century, there having been on going conflicts around the world with many great and super power countries are involved. Scholars in the field of international relations face challenges while they analyze or conduct researches about other nations’ politics because every
Some perceive the use of Child Labour to be positive for the ever growing global economy, while many on the other hand argue about the negative effects Child Labour has on children and society in general. According to the International Labour Organziation, Child Labour is "defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development"(ILO,p.1). Currently there are about 215 million child labourers worldwide (Canadian Labour Congress,p.1). Within Canadian Mainland Child Labour is considered illegal and a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. While the majority of Canadians believe Child Labour to be an epidemic present within second and third world countries, and are "willing to extra for products free of child labour"(Irene Ogrondik, Global News), but unseen by the public it continues in various industries across Canada, especially the Agriculture Industry. These issues of Child Labour in Canada "do not enter mainstream media until a teenager dies"(Craig and Marc Kielburger, p.1). The lack of implementation of laws in various industries and the importation of manufactured goods using child labour, coupled with the communication gap between different levels of government showcase Canada's indirect support for child labour.