Child Labor is a Form of Child Abuse - Essay Example

Running Head: CHILD LABOR IS A FORM OF CHILD ABUSE Child Labor is a Form of Child Abuse In APA Style By Name Institution The prevalence of child labor in the global economy has numerous adverse consequences. Child labor, whether voluntary or involuntary, places children in circumstances where the attainment of their full potential and growth as individuals are hampered. It is irrefutable that at their early age, children are forced to contribute to the economic well-being of their household.

There may be some cases where children may not be apprehensive about working for their family. However, whatever the case maybe, child labor is a form of abuse as it exposes children to hazardous circumstances, prevents them from furthering their intellectual growth, and burdens them with responsibilities which are supposed to be undertaken by their parents. Child labor is a form of abuse as it exposes an individual into hazardous circumstances where his or her health and even entire life is at stake.

Whenever we hear of child labor, what comes to mind is a picture is a thin and dirty child working long-hours in the factory. However, it has been found out that the agriculture sector employs the highest percentage of children who actively participates in activities like weeding, plowing, and taking care of farm animals. Both work places, whether in the manufacturing or agricultural industry, threaten the physical condition of the employed child. In a research conducted by Ashagrie in 1997, 9% of children in the manufacturing sector reports injury due to their lack of capacity in operating equipments.

In the same study, the agricultural sector records a higher 12%. Edmonds and Pavcnik (2005: 208) identifies the hazards in agricultural work: "Agriculture can be hazardous to for children because of exposure to dangerous chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides, exposure to heat or weather, repetitive work injuries and threats posed by animals, reptiles, insects, parasites and some plants." Child labor hampers children from furthering their intellectual growth by robbing them of time spend inside the classrooms to be educated.

Childhood is a very significant period in the intellectual development in an individual. However, being tied in different chores hinders children from getting proper schooling. Even if it is argued that child labor equips children with some skills, empirical evidences emphasize that it significantly robs children the opportunity to be educated. Children who spend more time in work activities have less time to spare to attend their classes. Furthermore, "time spent working takes away from study, play, and sleep and might undermine the effectiveness of the classroom for child workers that attend school" (Edmonds and Pavcnik 2005: 205).

Child labor also lessens the ability of children to improve their academic performance. Lastly, child labor passes the responsibility of parents to their young children. It is the sole responsibility of parents to provide the material needs of their children and it is very abusive of them to have their offspring support the family. One extreme example of this is the case of bonded laborers where child labor is used to pay the debt of the family. In all these situations, children are burdened with responsibilities which are not theirs.

The above discussion depicts the harm that child labor can inflict on children. Exposing children into hazardous working conditions endangers their physical well-being while robbing them of the time to be educated hinders their intellectual growth. Child labor is a form of maltreatment as it passes parent's responsibilities to the child. In all these situations, children are deprived of a chance to have a healthy and happy childhood. References Edmonds, E. V. and Pavcnik, N. 2005. "Child Labor in the Global Economy.

" Journal of Economic Perspectives. Volume 19: No.1. Retrieved 5 February 2007, from http://www.brown.edu/Courses/EC0151/material/p199.pdf