Monday, October 27, 2008

Discussion Questions

  • Each Example in Stolen Childhoods is very different. What do you see as common themes in each country shown?
  • Is child labor appropriate in some situations?
  • What elements of childhood are we attempting to protect when we regulate child labor? How do the rights of a child differ from general human rights?
  • Can child labor benefit children?
  • Governmental actors often claim to be making strides to end 'the worst forms of child labor.' What jobs would you put into the 'worst forms' category? Are there examples of the 'best forms' of child labor? How do we rank the many positions children take as work?
  • Are certain governmental systems better suited in avoiding child labor then others?
  • What standards of age and employment should be used to regulate child labor?
  • The reading on child labor emphasizes local complexities. What specific regional factors should be considered when creating child labor policies?
  • Should international laws regarding child labor be proportional to the level of poverty?
  • Does the system of 'volunteer' grocery packers in Tijuana, Mexico work? Does it give earning potential to children without violating their rights?
  • How does education effect child labor?
  • Why don't consumers choose fair trade products?
  • Which approach is better? Stop child labor at its source: reduce poverty, improve access to education, and end gendered oppression. Stop child labor through social action: call attention to companies and countries that exploit children, boycott companies that use child labor, and support legislation that deters the use of child labor.

12 comments:

Liz-o said...

Child labor in the United States grabbed my attention while viewing the movie Stolen Childhoods. In the book Child Labor: A Global View, Pamela Pieris states that, “that term child labor is commonly used to denote employment that is harmful to a child’s physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral development” (186). In my experience, I started working at a Baskin Robbins ice cream shop when I was 14. I recall having to obtain a special workers permit in order to legally work. As I shared with the class, I remember there being a section for farm work, which I assumed to be for kids whose parents owned a farm. Not having thought of that form since I was 14, seeing the adolescents working on the farm in the movie reminded me of that time.

Pieris also mentions that child labor generally refers to adolescents in the United States. She also offers these statistics: in 1997 it was found that 50% o12 year olds are engaged in some sort of employment, 57% at the age of 14, and 64% at 15. The movie depicted adolescent employment being on a farm. The book includes farming as well as other forms of labor (drug dealing and modeling).

A problem in the United States concerning agricultural child labor is highlighted in the book. First of all the following are the rules found on page 193:

1. Minors of any age may hold jobs on farms owned or operated by their parents.
2. Children 14 and 15 may work at any nonhazardous farm job outside of school hours
3. Children age 12 and 13 may work at nonhazaredous jobs outside of school hours at the same farm as their parents, or be employed elsewhere with written parental consent.
4. Children under age 12 maybe employed by a parent or with consent on a farm not covered by minimum wage stipulations.
5. Children ages 10 and 11 may work as hand-harvesting workers for no more than 8 weeks in a given calendar year, and must be subject to a waiver from the Department of Labor.
6. Children age 16 and older may work at any job, hazardous or otherwise with no hourly restrictions.

“The looseness in policy creates opportunities for oppressive child labor among youths of color and migrant child populations” (193). This was shown in the movie. At the age of 16, the government seems to forget about education. This also happens with nonagricultural jobs as well. What is it about the age of 16 that makes the government step back and allows children to possibly miss out on an education? By looking at this policy a little closer, one may interpret that the policy is for the family farm and not the immigrant family (as was shown in the movie).

I am a firm believer that being able to obtain a high school education should not be made difficult because of work. I can not imagine what it is like to have the drive to work to help support your family. The program that the movie highlighted, that provided a stipend while working towards a GED seems to be an awesome solution for the families that need the extra hand. The students appeared to be happy to be finishing school, and to be helping their families. Hopefully more programs like that will come around.

klgray said...

The article that discussed children in street situations was very interesting and it raised many questions for me.

First I agree with the articles using children in street situations as opposed to street children. This categorical label immediately creates an idea and bounds these kids' stories by some type of ideology (mostly that frames them in a negative light). I think it takes away the sensitive issues related to their situation.

I wanted to also discuss the most prevalent reason in the literature that many children live in the street. The assumption is that economic reasons force them into a migratory, street existence. This is very important to highlight – multifaceted explanation. The authors here link a familial breakdown as a more important factor in determining if children will become street dwellers. I think this assumption is rather immature also. You mean to tell me that children will leave one poor environment and go into an even poorer environment! It doesn't make sense. But I will come back to this because I think this is still an important issue – more important than what the authors suggest.

The authors focus on the failure to address household issues the push children to the street – sexual abuse, violence, neglect, etc. I would further look into why these families are in these situations.

I kept thinking about the flawed ideology in our country when addressing poverty. We take on an approach that if we reduce welfare we will reduce poverty. However, we fail to address the institutional and structural reasons behind people impoverished conditions. They got into these situations for a reason and most of them are not their own faults.

We also fail to adequately look at the family. We are quick to blame issues of poverty, children at a young age, crime, etc on the breakdown of the family. The ideological assumption is that a two headed household can alleviate most of these problems. We blame for not getting married. We blame them for having children out of wedlock. We put the burden of societies woes on these poor women. And have the audacity to look down on them and create laws and policies that further impede their growth. I can only imagine what kinds of structural issues that that Bangladesh as well as other 3rd world countries face (I can't call them developing because that is something that they are not able to do – develop and sustain). So my question is what role does the government play whether good or bad in these situations for children on the street?

The fact that the authors focused on an economically disadvantaged country makes no sense to me since her assumption is that economics plays a limited role in why children migrate to the street. What are the patterns for countries that are economically developed (1st world) for their children living in street situations? How do they fare and what are the reasons that drives their children to the street? I read some literature on runaways and it shows that abuse is a significant factor in why these children (mostly girls) leave home. I just think that by focusing on an impoverished country that their economic situation is interconnected with their other issues (an intersectional). So by looking at those that are well off, I think it helps to see the other view.

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