Child work and child labor are ideas that have been seriously considered and conflicting in the ever-changing world that we live in today. With the media becoming more influential in our perceptions of these children, the Global North feel responsible for the economic issues in the Global South. Having travelled to different cities in Mexico where there are many children found on the streets, and participating in economic trading, the importance of the idea stands out to me, and how we as learners in the First World can advocate for children who do work in such conditions and their rights to childhood. These children and their norms deviate away from our Western perception of childhood, and closely consider the inequality between children in First and Third world countries worldwide.

https://www.facebook.com/theguardian/videos/10154160415601323/?hc_ref=SEARCH

Here is one example of child workers, their role in their society, highlighting the dangerous environments in which they work.

Saving working children is considered an international effort in the world that we live in today, as child labor describes children being exploited, and working in hazardous or unfavorable conditions. Having discussed in our lecture, almost 45% of child laborers are between the ages of 5 and 11 with 58.6% of that population working in agricultural industries, while 28% of the population are between 12 and 14, with the final 28% being between 15 and 17. Other sectors of employment largely considered were services, domestic work, and industry. Also discussed in lecture, was the case of the Haitian Restaveks, who are children, from lower social classes sent away from their families to other families to allow the children better opportunities and easing biological families’ households. In sending these children away to other families, it is often times that they are found mistreated or exploited within the surrogate households.

Here is a link to the Convention on the Rights of a Child: https://www.unicef.org/crc/

In many cases child labor campaigns consider working children to be voiceless and in need of saving. In the article, Working Children as Social Subjects. The Contribution of working children’s organizations to social transformations, (Liebel, M., 2003), this idea is resisted against as it considers such organizations and the transformation processes within their societies. The common ground shared by the organizations, the social subject the discussion creates, and how the children or societies around them are affected from such organizations, are discussed. In this research the children are referred to by “social subject”, however wasn't mentioned often by the children themselves. Double marginalization is described when on one hand they are a worker whose effort goes unnoticed, and brushed to the side, while on the other, are perceived as too young or incapable of making decisions regarding organization of the societies that they exist in. The children’s organizations provided a safe social space for the children to understand their experiences as social subjects, allowing them to explore opportunities to make decisions in bettering themselves. These children represent a population that have been constantly dismissed by the bourgeoisie-capitalistic societies that we live in, and consider an understanding of childhood that goes beyond children being raised, educated, and prepared for the future. As the children in these organizations consider themselves as working and suggest that their work be recognized and respected, they further contradict the Western idea of childhood that keeps it separate from adulthood or working. The article concludes that these organizations cannot bring to a closing the structural causes of exploitation which are implied by the capitalist economy but do empower them within the community, by promoting their role, and the significance of their acknowledgement within their society. Theories that can be considered are Functionalism and Conflict Theory. With the functionalist perspective, child workers are dismissed as considered incomplete within their society, however highlighting the crucial role that they play, overall contradicting the Global North’s idea of childhood. When considering Conflict Theory, the different social classes, are explored with the developing countries in the Global South highlighting the differentiation of power and inequality being demonstrated in this capitalistic society.

This video highlights the contradicting ideas about working children and perceptions of childhood between the Global North and the Global South.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gA97UjCOUI

Working children are considered a conflicting idea worldwide, because childhood is so broadly understood. With that being said it’s crucial to understand how closely our day to day lives can be connected to the conflicting idea that is child work. For further reading on how we unconsciously feed into further exploitation of the child workers in the Global South, here is an issue that was recently discussed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35311456

Reference:
Liebel, M. (2003). Working children as social subjects. Childhood, 10(3), 265-285.
O’Neill, T. (2017). CHYS 2P38 Week 6 Winter. Personal Communication of (Thomas O’Neill), Brock University, Saint Catharines, Ontario.