May
2011
How should we respond?
In Canada, there are restrictions on how kids work…where they can work….and when they can start working. In this article: http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/specials/articles/0,28285,1043474,00.html
please read, respond and give us a “Your Say” paragraph on this complicated issue. About 250 million (about 8 times the total population of Canada) children between ages 5 and 14 work. About half of all child laborers work full-time. Many kids work in hard and often dangerous jobs. They do not go to school. Experts agree there is a lot kids can do to help child laborers everywhere. We read Branded and this book addressed this issue. How should we, Canada and the world react to this issue now as it appears it is not going away? Please give evidence from the text to support your answer.
Here are some websites that help support ending this problem.
A tv show on migrant workers…like those children we read about in Amelia’s Road.
tanyaanand
May 30, 2011 at 5:00 pm (13 years ago)Kids and adults all around the world have no homes and have to work. Our whole country Canada should take action and do something about this issue that has taken place around the world. As you may know that this situation is not going to go away that fast! My solution is the prime minister, Stephen Harper going to some of these countries and funding them. This will make all of the people that are suffering through this have enough of money/funds that will let them bring bread to their table and also getting a roof over their heads. Just something little for everybody will make the world appreciate the world much better. Sometimes we don’t get what we want but first think about the needy. They need food, shelter, and water more than we need that new video game. Having kids working at an age of 5-14 is very hard on these kids. Then after that they don’t get paid even minimum wage here in Canada. I feel that we should be doing so much more. We can all relate to the book “Branded” this book is relating to our communities now! They are talking about world issues. Parents and students should be able to read this book to see how many people around the world feel about this stuff. Many artists/singers made songs about this specific problem. One of the songs is Justin Bieber Pray! This song shows how people live and what they do to survive in their situation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9tJW9MDs2M&feature=autoplay&list=TLhqA5bUyRdnI&index=3&playnext=3 If you would like to see this music video please watch it. I hope you see the message behind this wonderful music that has been put together. As I was saying before countries like Africa and some parts of India. I bet there are many more. I would like to show you another link, this link is an article! It is called “Streets are People Places!” http://www.pps.org/articles/transportationasplace/ Here it is. I feel for these people. When I see people on the streets of Downtown, Toronto I feel like I have to do something. There is another book that many people can relate to it is…. Lady in the Box! As everyone in our class knows, is that this book is about one lady who lives inside a box. She lives in that box in all of the seasons. Many people just walk by her thinking of her crazy! But only one family is willing to actually help her out. This is a very sad life. I hope all of these people get better someday! I hope this made you think about all the things that go around in the universe.
By: Tanya Anand 🙂 😉 😀 😛 8)
raquelmedeiros
May 30, 2011 at 5:20 pm (13 years ago)I feel terrible about the kids that work!
All kids that work at such an early age, they are so sad and very tired because of having to work all day. These kids shouldn’t be working in fields and working for other people at that age. They shouldn’t start working until they are 16! These kids should be respected and not just thrown into the boss’s hands. Kids deserve to go to school and learn, kids deserve to play, and kids deserve to be kids!!!! In their laws/rules countries should be one that kids HAVE/MUST go to school!
Canada should react a little more supporting to the kids that are working. People are not really thinking about these poor and sad kids. They are not realizing that these kids are in a really bad condition for their age. (As said in the article) When people watch this video called Stolen Childhoods, they suddenly think about these kids working at the age of about 5-14 but they don’t do anything about it. We as Canada should start to help these kids in need. Let’s start buying more organic food like the article says, let’s talk to our parents and tell them that. If we do this we are HELPING!
In my opinion, this is something that should be changed. We should not have kids working at this age and we shouldn’t have kids being forced to do something they don’t want to do. They should have a free life so they could do whatever they want. They should be able to stay with their family.
All kids should have the right to be free and not work! (Until a limited age).
-Raquel 🙂 😀 😛 😉 8)
sofia101
May 30, 2011 at 5:54 pm (13 years ago)HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Personally Think That Child Labour Is Wronge But I Know At Time’s the Parent’s Neeed Help Feeding There Children And Everything But It Doesn’t Mean The Children Have To Work At The Age Of 12. The Work That These Kid’s Do, Might Not Even Be Safe.
We Should React Real Fast Because These Kid’s Can Get Into Real Big Issue’s With The Child’s Health And Everything. We As A Country Should Donate And Evverything And All THe Charity Thing’s Because I am 10 Year’s Old And I Have 6 Year’s Left ‘Till I Start Working. They Are Only 12 Year’s Old Only 2 Year’s A Part It Doesn’t Make A Difference!
I Think It’s Just Not Fair If I Were Them I Would Say NO! Right Away To The Person Who Make’s Me Work At The Age Of 15 And Younger.
I Agree With Len Morris That Child Labour Should Come To An End Right Now!
If I Could Make A Huge Difference I would Take That Chance But Unfortunatlly I Don’t Have That Kind Of Oppurtunity(s).
So What I Am Really Trying To Sya Is That Child Labour Is Not Fair To Any Of Us And It Need’s To End And If I Had That Kind Of Chnce To End It I Would.
Live,
Sofia.
Sultani.
=D
Tyler
May 30, 2011 at 6:25 pm (13 years ago)I think that child labour is absolutely bad for kids. I think this because they are getting paid 33 cents while the farmers are making people pay 1 dollar and 40 cents for the product the kids are making. I think we should react to this issue by making fundraisers for children and the parents who are doing the child labour. This will work because the reason people are doing child labour is because they are poor and need to make more money. So if we donate money to them, they will be less poor and cancel the child labour because they have enough money. We have lots of money. They have not much money. So would it hurt us to give 2 dollars to somebody less fortunate than us? You can put the fundraisers in public places where people often go such as school, community centres, shopping malls, etc. We would put it in a spot right near a door, so people would notice it. The people who we might need to convince are the owner of the school, the owner of the community centre and the owner of the shopping mall. But we could convince them by sending them repetitive letters with persuasive things in them such as photos of child labour. People who might be receptive are the people who have seen the movie ‘Stolen Childhoods and have been inspired by it and the IIECL (International Initiative to End Child Labour’s) Board of Directors and staff.
When they got this money they could pay for education. When they go to school, they will learn a lot about different jobs. After they go to school, they can use the extra money to get a good job. Also the dad could use the money for hiring new workers with a better education on the job. Since the workers have a better education they will make more food. When they make more food, the grocery store selection of that food will get bigger which means that more people will notice the product and buy the product so the dad gets lots of money and can give more money to the more experienced workers. If the workers get more money, they will want to stay at this job because it gives lots of money to them which means they will keep making lots of food and it will give lots of money to the dad because people are buying his product more often. Once the dad and kids make enough money, we can maybe take down the fundraisers because we may not need them anymore since the family will hopefully have enough money. When the kids make enough money doing the new job that pays them more, they will be able to buy the things that they need. That is my plan for getting rid of child labour.
Tushar
May 30, 2011 at 7:08 pm (13 years ago)I believe the way Canada and the rest of the world should react to this topic is that we should ban it because a child‘s life would get ruined because all the children work nonstop all day long and the only time they get to be children is when they go to school and on their only free day: Sunday. I think child labour should be against the law if children don’t need to or don’t want to work. Canada should stop buying products from countrys that practise child labour. That is what I think of child labour.
alia
May 30, 2011 at 7:13 pm (13 years ago)Child labor. A topic that angers me, makes me want to cry, makes me think about our freedoms and how they are being IGNORED. I think to myself a few questions…
Why do kids have to work in these circumstances, shouldn’t they be free to do what they like (as adults), Or at least shouldn’t they choose, in life what they want to do, not to be told by whoever???
I am a person who believes in freedom and peace, and my question to the all the people of the WORLD… Is what we want to do to the economy, the children, the people? How is this making our world a better place? Everyone talks about acheiving peace and “making the world a better place”, but the truth is nothing is happening. This is yet another topic that does not acheive that at all.
We need to help, how can we help… well as it says in the article, anyone even other kids can “Identify a group that they can help directly. Groups … that are doing good work to help children day in and day out… are groups deserving of our support.” as Len Morris, the director and producer of Stolen Childhoods says. Also we can provide help for the kids , we can always donate, fundraise,raise awarness, and volunteer. The article also says that the Stolen Chilhoods film explores the causes and costs of child labor and offers solutions… like we should try now! These kids need help and anyone can make a difference so why not start now?
alia
jacobno
May 30, 2011 at 7:18 pm (13 years ago)Child labor and Sweat shops.
The kids in sweat shops work hard every day and get very little money each day. There is child labor in Brazil, India, Mexico, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal and believe it or not the U.S. Child labor can start between the ages 5-14. Child labor is not in Canada because it’s wrong for people to put kids in factories to make shoes, picking fruit and veggies and pull out weeds. These jobs are for grownups. Kids in sweat shops don’t go to school. Kids ages 5-14 are supposed to play outside not work in factories every day. The parents in the other countries aren’t mean they just put their kids in to factories so they can eat and buy clean water.
Peace!!!!!!!
😛 🙂 😛 🙂 😛 🙂
Ryan
May 30, 2011 at 7:55 pm (13 years ago)I can’t belive that 250 million kids are doing labor work in farms and dangerous jobs. I you wouldn’t belive that these kids are only 5-14 and they don’t even go to school. These kids don’t even have a say in it. What if these kids don’t want to do it. These kids have to work about 10 to 18 hours a day. Most of these kids passed the border alegly(imagrents).Thses kids don’t have good working conditions. These kids childhood is taken away from them and they would never forget it. Thats what I say about child labor
Vanessa Becca and Maya
May 30, 2011 at 8:32 pm (13 years ago)our say
our group says that the fact that there are children starving on the other side of the world is crazy!
this is because every single child deserves a home with a bed, clothes, water and food.(basically just a shelter with everything we need in it)
we also think that people should donate some money, clothes or books to different foundations to help the needy. another thing to do is to join many charities or groups to help the children laboring. also we can have bake sales and donate all the profit to charities and foundations across Canada.
>+O
by: Vanessa Becca and Maya
zain khan
May 30, 2011 at 8:34 pm (13 years ago)I cant belive that kids have to work 18 hours a day and get paid a very small amount of money. This is bad because these jobs are for adults . Kids should be playing out side , not working in factories each day. These kids work because they need to buy food and clean water to drink. These kids childhood is taken away and they will remember it all the time, they are grownup jobs and kids shoulden’t be doing these dangerous jobs, it is bad for them .
Selena Almeida
May 30, 2011 at 8:44 pm (13 years ago)My opinoin about child labour is that it is wrong but think about it this way it is for a good cause.The reason why child labour should be band is because it is very dangorous for children at such a young age to be doing that type of work in the hot bursting sun for 10 to 12 hours.The reason why i think child labour is dangorous for kids at that age is because one of the kids could get heatstrock and get very sick from working in the hot sun for 10 to 12 hours pure day.And the reason why i think child labour is for a good cause is because they make money for doing that type of work. the reason why i think they also do that job is because so they make money to pay for the water bills and the electricity bills.my final opinion on why child labour is for a good cause is because so they have a house to live in!!!
Ahkash
May 30, 2011 at 10:11 pm (13 years ago)Child labour…very serious topic, no or yes
ok I made my decision, the middle, yup the middle, I don’t like it but a don’t hate it, you see the bright side is that they know what a job will be like and they have more experince, but the downfall is that they are dangerous jobs, which could hurt or kill the child, but sometimes you think it’s boring, even though it is the only way to survive you think it’s boring, you just want to go knock someones head and say “du hello a.. I want to move on dude”, now you could solve this, insted of sending kids to explosive factories just bring them to the farm, then stuff wouldn’t be dangerous, but it would be sooooooooooo hard,and soooooooooooooo boring and sooooooooooooo hard that you would think ” ok buddy can we chage it up a little bit” (a little bit means alot), but you can’t blame your parents, you just get put in that position, and you have to work in order to survive, also as ryan said some of these kids could have been illegal imagrants, that had to get money for their families, so ypu see some of these kids are put in a life Threatening situation just to get money
I could go on about this all night, but I am getting sleepy
good (yawn) night (yawn)
Adi
May 30, 2011 at 10:30 pm (13 years ago)There are kids out there under the age of 14 that are not as fortunate as us and have to work 10-12 hours a day. Shouldn`t they be at school? This is called child labour, it’s a big issue around the world, it happens in Kenya to the U.S. Canada has rules that children can’t work under certain age limits in different provinces (Age limits like 14, 16 and 18). The UN should come and inspect parts of the country at least once a year so child labour doesn’t happen. The whole world can help put child labour to an end by pressuring countries like Brazil and Mexico (child labour) and to put rules on the nation that no one under a certain age should be employed. All the nations should distribute the money in the country evenly amongst the people who live there. In the video, the children had to work with their father all day because the father alone wasn`t making enough money to feed the whole family. If the money was spread evenly the father could have enough money and there would be no need to come to farming. Instead the kids should’ve gone to school. Giving the country money would also provide the children with education, so they can grow up and become successful and “start a new generation” where their children won’t have to face the same hardships as their parents. All kids should be allowed to go to school, have fun and be kids!
glignor aka anuj
May 31, 2011 at 7:50 am (13 years ago)Wow,I can’t believe that people are still doing child labor even though a law has been passed about it.I think working at the ages of 12 and 14 this way to young to work
a good work age is 16-18.These kids are out in the fields
for 10 to 18 hours. These kids don’t need work what they need is some good education. Well, let go to the kids perspective maybe he\she has to or want’s to support their family because there in a financial catasrotophe.This my say on child labor.
imranalli
May 31, 2011 at 12:48 pm (13 years ago)I think that child labour is wrong and it should be band. the reason I think this is for a couple of reasons first of all it is dangerous, it is against the law and it is forcing under age kids to work. The legal working age is 14 but these kids are working at the age of 12. Countries such as Canada and the USA should not take things from countries and put it on the market if it has been made in a sweat shop or in a place ware child labour is used to make stuff. The kids work 18 hours a day and get 6 hours of sleep when kids were supposed to get 8. I undre stand that they have to make money to run there house and to buy food but realy they are only 12 and 13 years old.
imranalli
May 31, 2011 at 4:06 pm (13 years ago)I think that child labour is wrong and it should be band. the reason I think this is for a couple of reasons first of all it is dangerous, it is against the law and it is forcing under age kids to work. The legal working age is 14 but these kids are working at the age of 12. Countries such as Canada and the USA should not take things from countries and put it on the market if it has been made in a sweat shop or in a place ware child labour is used to make stuff. The kids work 18 hours a day and get 6 hours of sleep when kids were supposed to get 8. I undre stand that they have to make money to run there house and to buy food but realy they are only 12 and 13 years old kids but they were supposed to be playing out side not being is a old factory makeing shoes and stuff.
calvin
May 31, 2011 at 8:12 pm (13 years ago)It is sad to hear that there are kids out there working 10 -11 hours a day and working way harder since they are working out in the fields. These kids only get to be kids during school year but when the summer is here they turned into adults working just as hard and with no health care or overtime pay. It seems like the government is not helping them at all. This looks and sounds like child labor and this is wrong. No kids under 16 should have to work like that. I know some people say it is to teach them to learn how to earn their own money. But they are just kids and they should be having fun and going to school.
melisa brada
May 31, 2011 at 10:46 pm (13 years ago)Child Lbour make me feel so sad,bad and makes me cry it is sad to see every one work like that 18 hours to work I will cry ever day 6 hours of sleep I cam sleep all day if you like too but that is sad and working from 12 and out that is sooooooo bad I would never like my life like that never and know one will like their life like that know one. Who ever made this wrong thing be this way they should stop it now.If I get a time to talk to one of thoso people would say wath they are doing is wrong thoso kids that need freedom like us so it is time we band this now.The freedom we have know one like have so come on and tack our freedom and show them what it will be like to have freedom. come on and band it all.
By: Melisa Brada. <3
Katherine
June 1, 2011 at 7:59 am (13 years ago)Well that was not fun to see. Child labour is such a horible thing but most of all they have to sometimes to support their families. The childs family is probably under financial problems and the farmers just like in the video! But the worst thing is is how young they are.
imranalli
June 1, 2011 at 8:13 am (13 years ago)I think that child labour is wrong and it should be banned. I think this is for a couple of reasons: first of all it is dangerous, it is against the law and it is forcing underage kids to work. The legal working age is 14 but these kids are working at the age of 12. Countries such as Canada and the USA should not take things from countries and put it on the market if it has been made in a sweat shop or in a place ware child labour is used to make stuff. The kids work 18 hours a day and get 6 hours of sleep when kids are supposed to get 8. I understand that they have to make money to run their house and to buy food but really they are only 12 and 13 years old kids but they were supposed to be playing outside not in an old factory making shoes and stuff.