how do we stop child labor?
@churchill1980 (764)
Philippines
August 15, 2010 11:20pm CST
it was a long weekend for me. as i am employed in the department of labor and employment, one of our advocacy is to eliminate child labor. we went in maragusan, a small town here in mindanao. we enjoyed our almost 4 hours travel as we go through a humid and cool weather going the said town. we appreciate the best things the nature had offered us, fresh air, no traffic, green mountains, and a very nice weather. we spent the night in aguakan resort, a very nice place to relax, and they offered us delicious and native foods. everything was great. not until we went at the mining area in barangay pamintaran. we ride a dumptruct to take us there, and have 2 hours of travel into a mountainous area. the road was incredible, and 80 degrees elevated. we are very nervous, and thanks God we made it to the top. then, our hearts start to break. we saw children in that mining area working really really hard. in our interview with them, we learned that they are paid 50 pesos per sack of stone that they could bring from the tunnel to their bunkhouse. ithe sack weights 50 kilos, and the children are only 14 to 16 years old. they stop from going to school. they stop dreaming. they stop thinking about the future. they gave their small income to their parents, to sustain the family from their daily needs. that's very sad. children at their age, should have enjoyed their youth and should be school. but they are already employed, and their lives are put in danger. when we return home, i carried the thought of helping them, but how? how can we stop poverty? how can we make them realize that they should not deprive themselves of their right? and how could we really stop child labor?
2 people like this
11 responses
@mantis36 (4219)
• Philippines
15 May 11
Child Labor will only be stopped if the first step thing to be stop is Corruption in the Government
@mantis36 (4219)
• Philippines
3 Oct 11
here is another way to stop child labor....
if you are belong to a poor family status in life,
don't bear 10 kids....
or a good reason to send them to labor in the rice fields under the heat of the sun for a very low salary.....
its not the fault of the children, but the parents.....
@julyteen (13252)
• Davao, Philippines
18 Aug 10
It is common problem all over the world not only in the Philippines. I saw alot of young age people who are abuse by their parents to take the responsibility for the whole family. I know that it is not the right time for them to do so but they don't have any choice instead of going to school and suffer for the lack of finances, they are prepare to work at their early age even the local labor authority didn't allow them. They don't have any choice because they are unlucky and belong to the lowest level of the society.
Alot of concerned citizen do their part to help them but not all, maybe they help a few of them. Funds also won't allow to sustain if they help them all. If the local government will not imposed the strict regulation of not allowing young people to work the story will continue. Our government is very corrupt instead of extending their hands to the poor, they are selfish enough and put the funds to their personal pocket. This is the reason why the poor become more poorest and the rich become more richest.
Lets hope the new government will help to stop child labor and help them to experience what other youngster do.
@rosdimy (3926)
• Malaysia
16 Aug 10
A problem like child labour should be approached in a holistic way. The basic method is by identifying the cause(s), planning on how to tackle the problem(s), and carrying or implementing out the plan(s).
In most cases the main reason is poverty. If a family has enough money for basic needs, and some extra funds to send the children to school, then the incidence of child labour can be eliminated, or at least reduced.
To alleviate the problem of poverty there should be no hesitation to look at what is being done in other countries. For example in Bangladesh Grameen Bank started the idea of micro credit through the village co-operative. The money is to be used for starting a business. The success rate is very high. In Malaysia single mothers can borrow money from AIM, which is a trust, to set up a small business.
Once the parent(s) have money most of them will start looking at the importance of education for their children.
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
16 Aug 10
We have laws about child labor but like most laws in this country it lacks teeth. As long as there are parents who bore kids in the hopes that they could take them out of poverty without giving them the right to enjoy their childhood and have the right education then those children will mostly end up working too soon. I think we should make it a crime for a parent to have kids who doesn't have the capacity to provide the basic rights of the child.
@SRBALAJEE05 (372)
• India
16 Aug 10
Child labor is a burning problem all over the world. several organzations have taken measures to get rid of it but it still seems to be a topmost problem in spoiling future dreams of the children. education is the only way to stop child labour. parents must be educated and government should impose strict laws in stopping this. moreover child artists in movies is also one of the child labor but people or government does not recognize those. i wonder why? its all in our hands to stop this burden. stop employing children and send them to school. education must be made compulsory till age of 14 which is the best measure to control it. in my country it has been followed strictly. thanks for starting a social awareness discussion on my lot.
@jamuls (530)
• Philippines
16 Aug 10
one way of stopping this is to tell some vigilantes about this and get rid of those who hire these kids. kidding aside, child labor is really common these days... i don't even think that it's possible to stop it. tsk... if we can solve our poverty issues then i guess it would eliminate this problem.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
16 Aug 10
hi churchill thats so sad and I am told you do h ave the law and the law enforcers so now just gather the citizens behind you and write and phone the proper people with your concerns over the poor children forced to work at backbreaking jobs for just peanuts and beg for the laws to be r
eally enforced.
eally enforced.
@magtibaygom (4858)
• Philippines
16 Aug 10
We have the law. And we have the law enforcers. What we need now is, effective enforcement of the law. The problem is, the law and the enforcers are useless if they both fail to implement what needs to be implemented. As concerned citizens, let's help our government enforced the law.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
16 Aug 10
The governments in many countries make laws to prevent child labor. Unfortunately even after this you find that many children are forced into working at such tender ages. What it needs is an awareness in the public and also an awakening that we will not hire children for work. The parents should also realize and decide not to send their children to work.
All this said and done, the main problem is the economic condition of these families. The families of those children who go to work is very poor and they have no other choice but to work and make an earning for their family. The Government should realize this fact and do something for this
@princesslawyer0515 (270)
• Philippines
16 Aug 10
Oh, you're with DOLE? That's cool. Were you already there when Tito Art Brion was the secretary?
That problem has been in existence for decades, and I think it even dates back to the Spanish era. I'm not sure. We cannot totally eradicate that problem as long as there are irresponsible parents out there. Our las grant parents full control of their children... that's why we can't send street children to DSWD. We can only hope that our economy will strengthen under the new administration, and that the end result would be that able people would get sufficient jobs and children would get the education that they deserve, instead of getting them to work at their tender age.
@davenhearst (327)
• Philippines
16 Aug 10
education is the key to ending the exploitation of children. If an education system is to attract and retain children, its quality and relevance must be improved as well. Children who attend schools are less likely to be involved in hazardous or exploitative work. They are most likely to break out of cycle of poverty. The government should provide educational facilities for poor children in rural areas and shantytowns.
