Category: Free Essays

Introduction

Child labour is undoubtedly a human rights issue. It is not only exploitative but also endangers children’s physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral development. It perpetuates poverty because a child labour, deprived of education or healthy physical development, is likely to become an adult with low earning prospects. [1] This is a vicious cycle which apart from ruining the lives of many results in an overall backwardness in the masses.

Moreover, conceptualising child labour as a human rights issue gives the victim with the authority to hold violators liable. Human rights generate legal grounds for political activity and expression, because they entail greater moral force than ordinary legal obligations. Children are right holders with the potential to make valuable contributions to their own present and future well being as well as to the social and economic development of the society and thus they should under no circumstances be perceived as passive and vulnerable.

Today, traditionally prescribed interventions against child labour which were welfare based like providing a minimum age for work are being replaced by rights-based approach. A rights-based approach to child labour needs to be adopted which puts internationally recognized rights of children to the center while utilizing UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR as a supportive framework. Child labour is a condition from which the children have a right to be free and it is not merely an option for which regulating standards must be devised.

In this paper we shall firstly trace the slow orientation of child labour laws to include human rights perspective internationally, and then evaluate current Indian laws and policies from a human rights perspective

A Human rights approach to child labour

Initially, scholars were unsure over extending human rights to children. [2] For instance, the 1948 Universal declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) emphasises that “everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in the declarationaˆ¦” but makes no age qualification to the same. So it is unclear whether it extends to children. However, Art.4 of UDHR has been interpreted as prohibiting exploitation of child labour by interpreting “servitude” to include child labour. [3]

In addition, Articles 23 and 26 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights seek to guarantee “just and favorable conditions of work” and the “right to education,” both of which are violated constantly and globally through the exercise of the worst forms of child labor.

In 1966 the International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights (ICESCR) and International Covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR) took significant preliminary steps towards modifying human rights according to age, by defining childhood as a state requiring special protection, with rights distinct to those of adults. [4] Even so it was not until 1989 that the Convention on Rights of Children (CRC) clearly spelt out the rights of the child while giving them a special status apart from the adults.

Thus, it should not be surprising that early international legal efforts to address child labour tended to be abolitionist in tone and treated as an aspect of labour market regulation. [5] Next, a prioritization approach was adopted where concentration was on the more abusive forms of child labour. So the ILO adopted Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, 1999, aimed at the immediate elimination of intolerable forms of child labor. The convention requires signatories to work with business groups to identify hazardous [6] forms of child labor and introduce time-bound programs for eliminating them.

Conventions 138 and 182 are recognised as core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions but unfortunately human rights groups have done much to criticise it. They argue that this artificial division of hazardous and non-hazardous forms of child labour is artificial and made only for the benefit of labour regulations. Child labour in any form is very harmful and exploitative for the children. [7]

Secondly, child labour, as defined by ILO is work done by children under the age of 12; work by children under the age of 15 that prevents school attendance; and work by children under the age of 18 that is hazardous to their physical or mental health. It is an economic activity or work that interferes with the completion of a child’s education or that is harmful to children in any way. [8] Such an age based classification is incongruous and is behind time. [9] The right to a childhood cannot be replaced by placing such age barriers which imply at least some work could be done by children at even age 12! Where is the best interest of child seen in such laws?

Fortunately, a human rights approach to child labour was soon adopted by Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989. Such rules focus not only on the avoidance of harm to children but as well, on regulation of employment relationship in which working children find themselves and beyond that, on rights of children to education and to participate in decisions that affect their lives, including those related to their employment. This holistic view of child labour as only a part of a child’s life is principally what sets human rights approach apart from the labour regulation approach. [10] However, some critique of CRC feel that categorizing child labour as a special category has trivialized their rights and have made them weak and in need of an adult advocate. Conversely, the defenders of CRC argue that it is through this classification that children gain more rights with legally recognized interests which are specific to their stage in life cycle.

The slavery convention, 1926 and Supplementary convention on abolition of slavery, the slave trade, institutions and practices similar to slave trade, 1956 entered into force in 1957 prohibits slavery like practice under Art 1. In recent times Child labour has been read as a slave like practice as it involves economic exploitation. Since children are more vulnerable than adults and are dependent on their parents, it can be assumed that when they are economically exploited by their parents or by their consent, the decree of dependency necessary for work to b qualified as slavery like practice will be attained in most cases.

In the light of ICCPR (art 8(2)) and Supplementary convention on abolition of slavery, the slave trade, institutions and practices similar to slave trade, 1956, Art.4 of UDHR should be interpreted as prohibiting exploitation of child labour as child labour comes under “servitude”. Child labour also comes under the term “forced or compulsory labour” in Art.8(3) of ICCPR. The obligations of state parties under art 8 are immediate and absolute. Thus state parties have to prevent private parties from violating child labour norms. Art 24, ICCPR obliges the state to protect children from economic exploitation.

Convention on rights of child

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate a full range of human rights such as civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for children. The Convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognizing children’s rights in this way, the Convention firmly sets the focus on the whole child.

The Convention under Art.32 speaks of economic exploitation of children by making them perform work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. The Convention spells out a child’s right to education [11] , as well as identifying the forms of harm to which children should not be exposed. Other rights given to children include right “to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” and to abolish traditional practices that are prejudicial to children’s health (Article 24), a right “to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development”; parents have the main responsibility for this, but governments are required “within their means” to assist parents, as well as to provide material assistance and support in case of need(Article 27) and a right “to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child”. Article 22 specifies that refugee children have the same rights as all other children.

Article 6 of the convention makes it the obligation of the governments to ensure that children are able to survive and develop “to the maximum extent possible” while Article 11 urges governments to prevent “the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad”. Under Article 19, Governments must take action to protect children against all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, abuse, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse [12] and must provide special protection and assistance to children who are deprived of their own family environment under article 20. Article 35, requires governments to take action to prevent children from being trafficked while articles Article 36 and 39 requires governments to protect children “against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child’s welfare” and to help children recover from exploitation, neglect or abuse (particularly their physical and psychological recovery and return and reintegration into the communities they come from).

Two other provisions in the Convention are also vitally important for working children. Article 3 says government agencies and other institutions taking action concerning a child or children must base their decisions on what is in the children’s “best interests”. Article 12 emphasises that when a child is capable of forming his or her views, these should be given due attention, in accordance with the child’s age and maturity.

Other conventions of interest include Optional protocol to the convention on rights of child on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and Optional protocol to the convention on rights of child on the involvement of children in armed conflict both adopted in May, 2000.

India and its International commitments

India has ratified six ILO conventions [13] relating to child labour but have not ratified the core ILO conventions on minimum age for employment (convention 138) and the worst forms of child labour, (convention 182) recognised as the core conventions at the international labour conference which makes it mandatory for the international community to follow certain standards in their crusade against child labour. Nevertheless, India has taken commendable steps to eliminate child labour.

The recent right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009 and the preceding 86th amendment exemplifies the same. Furthermore, the passing of Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act, 2006 shows India’s commitment to a human rights approach to child labour. The Act emphasises on looking into the best interests of the child and allows for social reintegration of child victims.

In such a scenario India not signing the core labour conventions does not make a difference in the fight against child labour. India is a party to the UN declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959. India is also a signatory to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children. More, importantly India ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 12 November 1992. [14]

Other important international initiatives against child labour include the adoption of the first Forced Labor Convention (ILO, No. 29), 1930, Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action: States that a crime against a child in one place is a crime anywhere, 1996, establishment of 12 June as the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002 by ILO and the first global economic study on the costs and benefits of elimination of child labour. [15]

Indian laws on child labour

The present regime of laws in India relating to child labour are consistent with the International labour conference resolution of 1979 which calls for combination of prohibitory measures and measures for humanising child labour wherever it cannot be immediately outrun. [16]

In 1986 Child labour (Prohibition and regulation) Act was passed, which defines a child as a person who has not completed 14 years of age. The act also states that no child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A or in the process set forth in Part B, except in the process of family based work or recognised school based activities. Through a notification dated 27 January 1999, the schedule has been substantially enlarged to add 6 more occupations and 33 processes to schedule, bringing the total to 13 occupations and 51 processes respectively. The government has amended the civil service (conduct) rules to prohibit employment of a child below 14 years by a government employee. Similar changes in state service rules have also been made.

The framers of the Indian Constitution consciously incorporated relevant provisions in the constitution to secure compulsory primary education as well as labour protection for children. If the provisions of child labour in international conventions such as ILO standards and CRC are compared with Indian standards, it can be said that Indian constitution articulates high standards in some respects The constitution of India, under articles 23,24, 39 ( c) and (f), 45 and 21A guarantees a child free education, and prohibits trafficking and employment of children in factories etc. The articles also protect children against exploitation and abuse. Equality provisions in the constitution authorises affirmative action policies on behalf of the child.

The National child labour policy (1987) set up national child labour projects in areas with high concentration of child labour in hazardous industries or occupations, to ensure that children are rescued from work and sent to bridge schools which facilitate mainstreaming. It is now recognised that every child out of school is a potential child labour and most programs working against child labour tries to ensure that every child gets an education and that children do not work in situations where they are exploited and deprived of a future. Similarly, there are other programmes like National authority for elimination of child labour, 1994 (NAECL) and National resource centre on child labour, 1993 (NRCCL). Recently, government of India notified domestic child labour, and child labour in dhabas, hotels, eateries, spas and places of entertainment as hazardous under the child labour (prohibition and regulation) Act, 1986, effective from 10-10-2006.

National human rights commission has played an important role in taking up cases of worst forms of child labour like bonded labour. In 1991 in a silk weaving village of Karnataka called Magdi it held an open hearing which greatly sensitised the industry and civil societies. It also gave rise to new NCLP programmes. [17]

Judicial reflections

Judiciary in India has taken a proactive stand in eradicating child labour. In the case of M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors [18] , this Court considered the causes for failure to implement the constitutional mandate vis-a-vis child labour. It was held that the State Government should see that adult member of family of child labour gets a job. The labour inspector shall have to see that working hours of child are not more than four to six hours a day and it receives education at least for two hours each day. The entire cost of education was to be borne by employer.

The same was reiterated in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v.UOI [19] and directions were given to the Government to convene meeting of concerned ministers of State for purpose of formulating policies for elimination of employment of children below 14 years and for providing necessary education, nutrition and medical facilities.

It was observed in both the case that it is through education that the vicious cycle of poverty and child labour can be broken. Further, well-planned, poverty-focussed alleviation, development and imposition of trade actions in employment of the children must be undertaken. Total banishment of employment may drive the children and mass them up into destitution and other mischievous environment, making them vagrant, hard criminals and prone to social risks etc. Immediate ban of child labour would be both unrealistic and counter-productive. Ban of employment of children must begin from most hazardous and intolerable activities like slavery, bonded labour, trafficking, prostitution, pornography and dangerous forms of labour and the like. [20]

Also, in case of PUCL v. UOI and Ors [21] children below 15 years forced to work as bonded labour was held to be violative of Article 21 and hence the children were to be compensated. The court further observed that such a claim in public law for compensation for contravention of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the protection of which is guaranteed in the Constitution, is an acknowledged remedy for enforcement and protection of such rights.

However, Human rights experts criticise the scheme of payment of compensation envisage in Child labour act and further adopted by the Judiciary with gusto. [22] They say that monetary compensation is like washing away ones conscious which still believes that if a child labour is sent to school he must be compensated for the amount which he might have got if he had worked instead. This only confuses the already divided opinion of the society today which still thinks that poor and needy children are better off working.

Conclusions

India has done well in enacting suitable legislations and policies to combat child labour. Nonetheless, its implementation at grass root level is very much lacking. The child labour laws today are like a scarecrow which does not eliminate child labour but only shifts it geographically to other places, to other occupations like agriculture which may be less paying or it might be still continued clandestinely. [23] The lack of a specialised enforcement officer leads to lesser attention being given to child labour legislations. Furthermore, many of the child labour programmes remain poorly funded.

Child labour is a complex problem which cannot be eliminated without first attacking it at the roots. Thus, poverty, unemployment, lack of social security schemes, illiteracy and the attitude of society need to be tackled first before any progress can be made. A starting point can be to treat Child labour as a human rights problem and discouraging its manifestation in any form. If the society as such sees child labour as a social malaise, we will be much closer at achieving success.

Lastly, there is a lot of debate over the age from which child labour should be banned. The ILO conventions do not give a definite age, 14 years seems to be the general understanding but CRC defines a child to be below 18 years. Right to education is for children below 14 years and Child labour is prohibited till age of 14 years. This brings the question as to whether children of age 14-18 years are to be denied basic human rights and are to be left vulnerable.

All people were born with rights. Children are people as well; so, children also have theirs. Their right have been violated from child labor. Child labor is defined as, “the employment of a child in a business or industry especially in violation of state or federal statutes prohibiting the employment of children under a specified age.” Obviously, child labor has been a big social problem from over the world, mainly the third wrodl countries or developing country such as Philippines. This paper will argue the cases of child laborers, specifically in the city and in provinces of the Philippines. The social problem in Philippines, the government has ways to manage and improve it or not or even made it disappeared or not. It is a known fact that the disadvantages outnumber the advantages of child labor. There are three points, so that it is easier to view the advantages and the disadvantages of the said problem. Having a history background of Philippines which will have understand what is going on better. The purpose of this argument paper is to present the increasing amount of child labor in Philippines and how they were harm. Another would be to discuss the effects of child labor to the family, economy, and to the self. Lastly, the paper will suggest ways to stop or reduce child labor.

In the pass industrial background of child labor first appeared with the development of the developing country’s system. In this type of business a dealer bought raw materials to be “put out” to the homes of worker to be spun, woven, sewn, or handled in some other materials. This allows a division of labor and a level of specialization among different types of people. Products are paid by pieces, and children were commonly used at whatever task they could perform. In England and North America, this system was important from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and is still being seen up to the present in some industries and, in some country including Philippines. (Labor) The kids were forced to beg on the streets and help making money for the professional beggars. The children that are prostitute help trading with the tourist. The girls were used as a servant in a private home and being treated no better than slave. Many children were brought from the dumpsites and put on the street to make money. Children are being use as a runner helping distribute illegal drugs in to the city. The nubile girl working as a striper and night and teenage exposing their skin than necessary on the theater screen. Truly, child labor has many faces. Children performed these can either endangers their health or safety, interferes with their education or prevent them from playing other activities that are important to their development. The children can not really survive. (Heineman, 2001) Most of the children must be kept inside so that they could not be seen by the public. They would mostly be working in factories at night or as prostitutes at night. Cloth factory in Philippine uses child labor to produce goods and export the goods to the United States. (Deshpande, 2008) The reason the number of child labor is increasing because they were taken from other province and were promised with good live. Another is that they were forced to work due to poverty. Since industrious works are more suitable for children than compared to other people who are in the right age to work.

Child slave labor is to use the illegal working children below 18 years of age in danger job. Underage children are being forced to do physical labor to help their families mainly due to poverty. About 2.06 million all around the Philippines are forced to do labor, such as in crop plantations, mining caves, rock mining, and factories. Due to the poverty problems that are not being help from the government, the number of child labor will continue increasing. (Deshpande, 2008)Child labor has many health effects in children who are supposed to be in the environment of a classroom rather than walking on the streets and risking every chance, over and over again, to earn money. Although most do get the privilege of education, most end up being dropouts and repeaters because they are not able to focus on their studies. Because of child labor, children suffer from starvation, the ability to grow, and improper health development. (Deshpande, 2008)The problems of child laboring continue to grow, so the economics of the country will drop rapidly. People with proper education will not get job due to higher salary payment compare to illegal child labor. The cost of child labor is incredibly low comparing to workers with high education. Philippines is a young nation with high percentage number of young people in its overall population. There are up to 22.4 million children ages between five and seventeen. Sixteen percent of the overall population represent working children ages between five and seven, which means that one of every six children work. In the last twelve months, 3.7 million children ages five to seventeen worked. Children from rural area make up 67.1 percent of this number and almost half are between the ages of five and fourteen. These working children are mostly all boys, who account for 65 percent. As far as the locations where these children work, 60 percent perform unpaid family work in their own households, 17.2 percent work in their own homes and 53 percent work in family farms. (Group, 2002)

The impact of the children’s health is a big problem for some country. The illness and death of family income head family means that the children has to go out and find money. A child that has health problem maybe judge unfairly and their work most of the time affect with their education. Child that believes to be clean from disease maybe put on the street as a prostitute. There is very few information available about the reason of disability on child labor – research is deeply needed in this area. However, there is evidence of children being intentionally disabled for use such as begging. Furthermore, it is noticeable that disability can lead to poverty. (Group, 2002) By disabled children can weaken the poverty organization and there are higher risk of treating people unfairly. Anecdotal evidence believed that like women, disabled children are less likely to get equal pay for equal work. Most of the work for children is and dangerous job that require the risk of their health daily. If children are disabled from doing work, they would not be getting reward or very less, however their live may have been ruined forever and damage to their life and future. This is why there are increasing risk of people treating unfairly and poverty. The same is true for those who have HIV/AIDS or STIs or are raped at work. Sexually oppressed children is the mainly risk here. Child labor continues to live throughout the world. Children have to work because their survival and that of their families depend on it, and in some cases, because dishonest adults take advantage of their weakness. Child labor is caused from weaknesses in education systems and is deeply rooted in cultural and social attitudes and traditions. The problem is more by the fact that child labor is kept away from public view, making the problem seem less of an important. What can be done about child labor? 1. Prioritize education. It is a fact that the countries with a lot of child labor are worst at education than those that spend more primary education. Primary education should be free, made it important, well-resourced, and located everywhere. It is much easier to keep track on school attendance that to check on factories and workshops. It might make us feel good, but it only helps educate one child, isolating them from others in their community. (Group, 2002)2. Give the jobs of child workers to the adult that is capable of working. This way, the family does not suffer, and indeed should be better off, as adult wages are generally much higher than child wages. (Group, 2002)

All in all, child labor can be widely spread in Philippine, but that are more disadvantage of using child labor than advantage. Government has to come in to help set law more stricty. Children labor are get harm both my mental and psychical. They are not able to live in a normal society because of their difference, both from accident or harm to make people feel sorry. All these things can be help if the government gives more attention to education and give jobs to the people that are allegeable to do work and band all the factories or any organization that use child under age.

Child labor refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labor. It is the full-time employment of children under a minimum legal age. The practice of child labor is considered illegal by many countries and exploitative by many international organizations. (Child Labor at Distrcit Level, 2009)Child labor is one of the problems that occur as a result of the responses to the economic problems faced by vulnerable children. In most developed and emerging countries, use of children as labors is considered as violation of human rights and is outlawed, while some poorer and developing countries do tolerate and allow child labor.

In Pakistan, a country where almost half of the population lives below the poverty line, child labor is deeply entrenched and pressing phenomenon. Child labor in Pakistan is prevalent in all sectors of the economy, thought it primarily exists in the informal sector of employment and home-based industry. Pakistan’s high population growth of around 1.6% poses multiple challenges and threatens to constrain limited resources and social and economic development of the country. According to the survey of Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) in 2002, the number of working children in Pakistan was approximately 3.5 million or 7% of the total workforce in Pakistan. However, the children under the age of 10 and those working in small and family businesses that are not registered with the government were not the part of the survey. So the actual figure is deemed to be much higher than the official figures.

In Pakistan, children aged 5-14 are around 40 million. The survey conducted by UNISEF in 2003, estimated that 8 million children under the age of 14 are engaged as labors. Most of them are engaged as labors in brick kiln factories, carpet weaving centers, agriculture, small industries and domestic services. The survey also indicated that rural and urban ratio of child labors was 7:1. The province with most number of cases of child labor was Punjab with nearly 60% of the total child labor population.

HISTORY AND IMPACT OF CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN

Child labor has been prevalent in Pakistan in all the sectors of the economy, though it mostly exists in informal sector of employment and in the home based industry. In late nineties, the matter of child labor emerged as a serious consideration due to international exposure. In 1996, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto acknowledged the problem of child labor in the country and announced the plan to eliminate it. In his speech in April 1998, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that the problem of child labor occupied a prominent place in the agenda of government of Pakistan. In 1999, Federal minister for labor and manpower, Shaikh Rashid announced a four point policy for curbing child labor in Pakistan. In Jan-99, government announced the draft of the labor policy. The policy envisaged that the government is committed to end child labor. It was also promised by the government of Pakistan in 2000, that the law to eliminate child labor and bonded labor at an economic level would be implemented in 2002 and till 2005; there would be no bonded labor or child labor in Pakistan. Even after so much regulations and promises by the government of Pakistan, the attempt has not been successful till now. Though the issue has received international attention and various organizations at international level like ILO and UNICEF are participating in the issue, still the improvement in this case is very slow.

In eradicating and creating awareness against child labor in Pakistan many communities are having a stake. Some of these communities/autonomous bodies working for the cause are:

Government of Pakistan
Children Parliament Pakistan
International Labor Organization
UNICEF
Other NGO’s, Society and Media

All the above government and private bodies are actively working for the eradication of child labor in Pakistan. The issue has been seriously addressed by the above bodies either individually or in conjunction with any other body. The role of each of the above mentioned body in the eradication of child labor in Pakistan is as follows:

GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN: Government of Pakistan has been actively working for the eradication of child labor in Pakistan. Activities of government towards the issue have been gaining considerable attention since late 1990’s, when the matter of child labor emerged as a serious consideration due to international exposure. In Jan-99, government announced the draft of the labor policy. The policy envisaged that the government is committed to end child labor. It was also promised by the government of Pakistan in 2000, that the law to eliminate child labor and bonded labor at an economic level would be implemented in 2002 and till 2005; there would be no bonded labor or child labor in Pakistan. Though the government has not been able to deliver on the promises made due to the increased political weaknesses in the company, still there have been continuous efforts made on their part. Government also identified poverty and lack of education for children as root causes for the child labor in the country.

(Arshad)The present government in Pakistan has made elementary education compulsory for children. Along with that, the government has also made the policy of distributing free books in primary schools. This would help the parents, who cannot afford their child’s education and school expenses can send their children to schools. Along with all of the above, the following laws are made by government of Pakistan to address the issue (Pakistan):

National Child Labor Laws: In Pakistan a child is defined as a person younger then fifteen. The legal minimum age for employment of children is 14 for normal businesses and 15 for railways and mines. The constitution of Islamic republic of Pakistan prohibits forced labor, slavery, and employment of children below the age of 14. The government of Pakistan asserts that the labor inspectors are empowered to carry out regular visits to all employment places covered under employment of children act 1991 to check the compliance of the law at that places.

Education Laws: Articles 37 (b) & (c) of the constitution of Pakistan declares public policy to “remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within the minimum possible period [and to] make technical and professional education generally available and higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of merit”. Despite a law in 1962 requiring each province to designate areas where primary education is compulsory, none of the provinces have complied. As of now, the present government in Pakistan has made elementary education compulsory for children. Along with that, the government has also made the policy of distributing free books in primary schools.

International Conventions: Pakistan is a party to ILO convention concerning minimum age of employment in the industry and UN convention for rights of the child.

Through above legislatures and laws, and to some other timely regulations, the government of Pakistan is acting as an active community stakeholder in eradication of child labor in the country. Though in present scenario Pakistan is suffering through political weaknesses, but still government is committed to take the work one step ahead.

CHILDREN PARLIAMENT OF PAKISTAN: The children’s parliament for Pakistan was launched on 14-Nov-08, by Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC). The main aim of this parliament is to create awareness and promote child rights in the country. The members were elected from different schools of Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Karachi, Lahore etc. Besides providing basic rights to every child in Pakistan other objectives of this parliament are:

End child labor

Educate every child

Provide medical facilities to children

Protect the children

In addition, children parliament serves as their voice to convey the difficulties and problems faced by the children to government of Pakistan.

INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION: With the matter of child labor in Pakistan gaining international attention, ILO has fastened its steps to address the issues. ILO does timely surveys within various industries in Pakistan suspecting large amount of child labor. (International Programme for elimination of child labor)Based on the survey they come out with survey reports addressing the issue and recommending ways to deal with the situations. Some of the latest surveys conducted by ILO in Pakistan are:

Survey on Child Labor in Kasur Tanneries in 2004

Survey on Child Labor in Glass Bangles industry in Hyderabad-2004

Survey on child labor in surgical instruments manufacturing industry in Sialkot

Survey on child labor in coal mine industries in Chakwal, Noshera and Shangla

ILO has also been working with the government of Pakistan guiding them from time to time on this issue. It is also acting as a watch dog, inspecting the ways in which government is addressing the issue.

UNICEF: The name UNICEF needs no introduction. United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund, a UN organization has consistently working towards the development of children in underdeveloped countries. UNICEF conducts timely surveys to see the improvement in the case. The survey conducted by UNISEF in 2003, estimated that 8 million children under the age of 14 are engaged as labors. Most of them are engaged as labors in brick kiln factories, carpet weaving centers, agriculture, small industries and domestic services. The survey also indicated that rural and urban ratio of child labors was 7:1. The province with most number of cases of child labor was Punjab with nearly 60% of the total child labor population. UNICEF also set-up centers in the Pakistan, helping destitute children get home. Pakistan is also amongst the countries that get funding from UNICEF to promote the steps in eradication of child labor.

OTHER NGO’S SOCIETY AND MEDIA: This is another group of very important stakeholders in the issue of child labor in Pakistan. NGO’s like ACM Apostolic Charismatic Ministry and Child Reach International has continuously worked towards the development of children in Pakistan to eradicate child labor. Though the NGO’s in Pakistan don’t get proper funding from government of Pakistan neither from any corporate bodies, still the work they do in crating awareness and providing elementary education to children is quite appreciable. Society and media as a whole has a major role to play in the eradication of child labor in Pakistan. These two stakeholders are still dormant in the issue, but for the development of children in Pakistan society and media have to play a major part.

Poverty levels in Pakistan appear to necessitate that children work in order to allow the families to reach their target take-home pay. The lack of economic opportunity for adult employment in Pakistan needs to be studied and taken under consideration; the government also needs strict to inspect the strict implementation of laws made by it. Lack of education is another reason for the high rate of child labor in Pakistan. Thought government of Pakistan has made policies for providing free elementary education to children, the policies need strict implementation to address the issue. Also, other stakeholders of the issue specially Children parliament, ILO, UNICEF, Media and NGO’s have to work in tandem to create awareness for the rights of the children in the country.

REFERENCES

(n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from www. unicef. org: www. unicef. org/ protection/ index_3717. html

Ahmad, M. (2001). Child Labor: A time to reflect. In M. Ahmad, Child Labor: A time to reflect. UNICEF.

Arshad, R. (n.d.). Child labor in Pakistan. Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.hamariweb.com: http://www.hamariweb.com/articles/article.aspx?id=91

Child Labor at Distrcit Level. (2009, Sep). Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/17333/1/MPRA_paper_17333.pdf

H.Zaidi, H. (2004, Jan). Baseline survey report on child labor. Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.ilo.org: http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/viewProduct.do?productId=5225

International Programme for elimination of child labor. (n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.ilo.org: http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/searchProduct.do;?type=normal&title=&selectedMonthFrom=-1&productYearFrom=&selectedMonthTo=-1&selectedCountries=342&selectedMediaTypes=14&keywords=&userType=3&selectedFieldOfficeId=-1&resultPerPage=20&selectedSortById=4

Pakistan. (n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.dol.gov: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat/pakistan.htm

Population census organization. (n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.statpak.gov.pk: http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_sex_ratio_growth_rate/pop_sex_ratio_growth_rate.html

COMMUNITY PROGRAM TO ADDRESS CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN
ABSTRACT

Child labor refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labor. It is the full-time employment of children under a minimum legal age. The practice of child labor is considered illegal by many countries and exploitative by many international organizations. (Child Labor at Distrcit Level, 2009)Child labor is one of the problems that occur as a result of the responses to the economic problems faced by vulnerable children. In most developed and emerging countries, use of children as labors is considered as violation of human rights and is outlawed, while some poorer and developing countries do tolerate and allow child labor.

In Pakistan, a country where almost half of the population lives below the poverty line, child labor is deeply entrenched and pressing phenomenon. Child labor in Pakistan is prevalent in all sectors of the economy, thought it primarily exists in the informal sector of employment and home-based industry. Pakistan’s high population growth of around 1.6% poses multiple challenges and threatens to constrain limited resources and social and economic development of the country.

The paper designs a community program to address the issue of child labor in Pakistan. It identifies various stakeholders in the issue and based on certain strategies and programs, intends to bring an effective social change. The paper also addresses potential challenges in the way of eradicating the child labor in Pakistan and ways for addressing the issue.

GOAL OF THE STUDY:

The primary goal of the study is identifying the trends in the issue if child labor in Pakistan. Based on the issue, paper intends to identify various stakeholders of the issue. The aim of studying this is to a community program to address the issue of child labor in Pakistan. It identifies various stakeholders in the issue and based on certain strategies and programs, intends to bring an effective social change. The paper also addresses potential challenges in the way of eradicating the child labor in Pakistan and ways for addressing the issue.

The goals had been made keeping in mind the resources available in Pakistan to bring a social change. Political weakness in the economy of Pakistan has also been kept in mind. The success of this community program depends upon the working in conjunction of the stakeholders of the issue.

STRATEGIES TO BE ADOPTED

In order to eradicate child labor in Pakistan both preventive and corrective strategies are proposed. Successful intervention models are also founded so that the change in knowledge would be easier to bring about, attitude change requires relatively longer time frame and finally the change in total mind set and behavioral change requires the longest time. Interventions are to be phased out in the time bound manner and change strategies are age specific and gender equitable.

GENERAL AND POSITIVE ACTION STRATEGIES: The following general and positive action strategies are requires to be taken to address the issue of child labor in Pakistan:

Change in attitude of stakeholders: Awareness campaigns, counseling sessions and advocacy workshops need to be geared towards parents for gaining their confidence and for raising their awareness about the ill-effects of child labor concerning their children. The campaigns and counseling would highlight the alternatives of child labor, including non-formal and formal education and apprenticeship. Parents would be educated about the benefits of schooling in terms of income and increased efficiency and guiding that child labor in many cases is futile with a very meager income associated with it.

Similar services for gaining employers confidence would be arranged for building support for struggle in eliminating child labor. Carefully designed educational and informative conferences and/or seminars would be arranged to restore the self esteem and dignity of labor. Labor Department working with industry should work with missionary zeal in order to accomplish an eventual elimination of labor in a reasonable time frame.

Poverty Alleviation: Numerous steps would be aimed at family’s alternative income generation and poverty. Poverty alleviation would be addressed very seriously at different levels with the involvement of international organizations, various non-government agencies and Provincial, federal and district governments. The problem of child labor in Pakistan can be managed effectively only if the problem of poverty is worked out effectively, through income generation projects for society and parents and through equitable and fair access to safety nets such as zakat funds and other benevolent programs.

Poverty alleviation efforts of provincial and state governments PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) would coincide well with time-bound program endeavors targeted at phasing out child labor from the country.

(Beig, 2004)The survey carried out by ILO in 2004 in coal mine industries in Chakwal, Noshera and Shangla revealed following figures:

Chakwal:
Category
Sample Plan
Actual Interview conducted
Working Children

450

126

Parents

12

16

Employers

60

27

Total

522

169

Chirat/ Noshera:
Category
Sample Plan
Actual Interview conducted
Working Children

400

48

Parents

5

4

Employers

10

13

Total

415

65

Drop-out Survey:
Category
Sample Plan
Actual Interview conducted
School-going

150

250

Drop-outs

15

27

Parents

27

22

Teachers

40

38

Total

212

337

Formal Schooling, Non-Formal Schooling and Vocational Training: (Kulsoom, 2009)Poverty being major reason for majority drop-outs, provision of fee and subsidized education would be recommended at formal schools. Formal school teachers need to be trained to adopt child friendly teaching methodologies and attitude in order to reduce risk of drop-outs. Apart from the traditional program of study, training at non-formal educational schools should include vocational training & health and safety education. NFE schools would be a really essential measure because to stop the supply of labor at source, alternative sources of productive engagement needs to be available with children.

Quality of education will also be enhanced and it needs to be attractive and relevant to help reduce the drop-out tendency in schools. Issues concerning child labor, including information about the hazardous nature of child labor and gender biases needs to be incorporated into the educational curriculum of non-formal and formal schools for both male and female students.

Occupational health hazards and safety measures: Till the child labor is eliminated totally, the culture of occupational safety would be promoted in all industries by raising awareness through advocacy seminars. These awareness-related advocacy seminars should be arranged at the worksites and at community level, would also be used for educating children about the ill effects of child labor and raising awareness about the value of education and its other positive alternatives. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) study undertaken by ILO in 2004 also yielded detailed insights on the same issue. In addition to seminars, group meetings and workshops would also be arranged on a sustainable basis for promoting norms and adopting preventive health measures.

Improved Legislative Measures: Steps would be taken for enforcement of existing labor laws. Till the child labor is completely eliminated, increased protection to child workers would be provided upon the consent of the government against the violation of their rights and against unsafe industrial practices including child labor. High powered mystery clients would be requested to monitor adherence in safety standards along with labor departments and ILO monitors.

PARTNERSHIPS AND CAPACITY BUILDING: ILO would be requested to build strategic alliances with Non Governmental Organization in Pakistan. ILO also need to consider alliances with consultation agencies working on child labor issues to use them as catalyst-facilitators, monitors and trainers in working towards the common goal of eradicating child labor and reducing its ill-effects. To rectify the problem of child labor, cross agency partnerships in Pakistan would be prompted till the operations are self sustained and fully streamlined. These partnerships would be supported by ILO and jointly partnered with government agencies in Pakistan and with relevant international agencies such as UNICEF, UN department for Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and other stakeholders like NGOs, Media etc. cost effective innovative transformations would be geared towards effective building of District level labor departments, Provincial planning, district governments and NGO’s. The aim of training would be to inculcate learning about a proactive work culture along with a missionary zeal in addressing the issue of child labor in Pakistan.

MEDIA SUPPORT: Various media like T.V, Press, and Internet media would be involved in the broad-based awareness regarding the child labor issues, including vocational and formal education. Effective information, education and communication materials would be created and would be disseminated to press and other media in order to win their support and create awareness. Electronic media would be used later as an effective partner in the struggle against the child labor in Pakistan. Strategies will also be made to gain the confidence of electronic media through workshops, conferences and meetings.

All the above strategies used for community engagement are based on the following model.

Different Stakeholders that are involved in this program of community engagement are:
Government of Pakistan
International Labor Organization (ILO)
United Nation International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
Society, especially parents of the children
UN Department for Assistance Framework (UNDAF)
Non Government Organizations (NGOs)
Schools and their staffs, especially teachers
Employers
Labor Union
Media in all forms
Children Themselves
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES AND THE ROAD AHEAD

Potential challenges in the way of making community engagement for eradicating child labor in Pakistan are:

Weak Political and Economic Scenario in Pakistan: Pakistan is going through a period of weak political and economic scenario. So that will be the major potential challenge in making the community engagement because in an unstable economy implementing legislatures is a very difficult task. Also, making arrangements for funds in a weak political scenario becomes difficult because in this case government may not be ready to fund the program. For overcoming this challenge, fund needs to be raised from major corporate. They should be encouraged to fund the program as much as possible as the part of their corporate social responsibility. For implementing the legislatures, proper alliance needs to be made between Government bodies and foreign bodies like ILO and UNICEF who are already working for the cause. These bodies will help monitoring laws and legislatures formed.

Poverty: Poverty is another major challenge in the effectiveness of community engagement in Pakistan. Most families send their children to work to reach their target take-away home pay. So making them understand about not considering the pay of their children as the major factor would be really difficult. To overcome this challenge, workshops would be held and proper counseling would be provided to parents about the harmful effects of child labor and benefits of elementary education for the future of their children.

Attitudes of Employers, Parents and Children: This is another challenge in the effectiveness of the community program. In various industries children are considered as cheap labors. So changing the attitude of the employers about employing children by considering them as cheap labor would be difficult to change. Every business needs to be inspected at intervals along with counseling and advocacy meetings with employers to change the attitude of the employees. Same would be the problem with Parents and children. This would be addressed by showing the ill-effects of child labor and benefits of education.

Though poverty levels in Pakistan appear to be a necessitate reason that children work in order to allow the families to reach their target take-home pay, effective community engagement can help raise awareness against the issue. The lack of economic opportunity for adult employment in Pakistan needs to be studied and taken under consideration; the government also needs strict to inspect the strict implementation of laws made by it. Lack of education is another reason for the high rate of child labor in Pakistan. Thought government of Pakistan has made policies for providing free elementary education to children, the policies need strict implementation to address the issue. Also, other stakeholders of the issue specially Children parliament, ILO, UNICEF, Media and NGO’s have to work in tandem to create awareness for the rights of the children in the country.

The factor of engaging a child below 15, to some work rather than sending them to school is called child labor. Child labor all over the world has increased speedily in the recent years. There is no exact information regarding child labor. In most developing countries of world, mostly children are working on the places that are auto mobile workshops, weaving industries, domestic servants, restaurants and in many industries in Pakistan. In other forms of work, it has seen that children are begging which they have to make for their masters.

Lack of awareness and illiteracy are the main causes between parents who avoid sending their children to school. Mostly child labors are from alliterate families. Mainly three forms of child labor are

Non-exploitative child labor mean any work done by a children which is hazardous, harmful for their health, or harmful for their mental, physical or social development and stop to get education. Some hazard conditions are working in mines, working with dangerous machinery and working with chemicals.

Hired child labor mean children which are preferred by employers because they are cheaper as compare to adult. In many works child labor are more active like they have more speed to do work and their eyesight is sharper than any adult person.

Bound child labor is performing in which owner give high interest loans to labors in exchange for long term work or when a person children or any family member takes a debt against any work.

Labor may also be categorized according to the nature of job. Domestic servants, the child worker who are working in carpet industry, the children who work on shops, canteens, general store as salesman, the children who are working in the workshop using light machines like tools, tailoring or embroidery and children who are working in heavy workshops tough labor that is light labor.

Children are working in different sectors of countries in different ways, types and in professions some of them are agriculture sector, cotton industry, flower industry , domestic labor, brick kilns, fireworks, cigarette rolling, construction, mining, forestry, manufacturing, retail and service industry, stone quarries, sugarcane, toys, slavery, child soldiers, jewelry making, news, sweatshops, restaurants, fishing, factories, carpets weavers, farm works, and trafficking.

“Child labor in Pakistan is the employment of children for work in Pakistan, leading to mental, physical, moral and social harm to children. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated in the 1990s that 11 million children were working in the country, half of those under the age of ten. In 1996, the median age for a child entering the work force was seven, down from eight years old 2 years prior. It was estimated that one quarter of the country’s work force was made up of child laborers” (Wikipedia)

“Child Labor by Numbers are 218 million children worldwide are child laborers, 73 million working children are less than 10 years old, 126 million are estimated to work in the worst forms of child labor, one in every 12 of the world’s five to 17 years olds, 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities, 2.5 million children work in the developed economies, 22,000 children die every year in work-related accidents, 127 million working children are in the Asia Pacific region. Nearly one third of children in Sub-Saharan Africa work” (Child Labour Public Education Project)

“Child labor is a significant phenomenon, large in scope, and with very important social and economic implications. It takes a variety of forms, from children working on family farms or in family businesses to children engaged in sweatshop labor, prostitution, armed conflict, or other illicit activity. It also has serious implications on human capital accumulation and in perpetuating poverty and therefore is closely linked to progress against the MDGs, especially the goal of achieving universal primary education. Given the connections between child labor and schooling, the efforts of the Education for All partnership will not be fully successful without addressing child labor.” (Gordon Betcherman, 2004)

“Child labor was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous children aged 5-14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, and mining and in services such as newsies. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labor laws, the incidence rates of child labor fell.”(encyclopedia)

“One-third of the working children are literate, which shows that mere completion of primary education is not an effective deterrent to child labor. School enrolment indicates that economically active children who are not enrolled in school (34.2 per cent) are higher than economically active children combined with school (13.2 per cent). This shows that enrolment is negatively correlated with the involvement of children in economic activity. Education attainment is low because of limited opportunities resulting from inaccessibility of schools; inability of parents to afford schooling costs; irrelevance of school curriculum to real needs, and restrictions on girls’ mobility in certain parts of the country.” (ILO, 2009)

“Child is not born for work rather to study, but wall of encumbrance either in financial term, economic term or in social term made him compelled for labor work. Understanding real economics of child labor can have better policy to tackle this issue. Asia has a large number of child domestic workers. These include children working as child minders, maids, cooks, cleaners, gardeners and general house-helps. The lack of information is major cause of not having thorough analysis of incidence and nature of child domestic workers in many Asian countries. However, there is not a significant reduction in child labor participation, especially in Asia.” (htt12)

“Child labor has been acknowledged as a serious and challenging issue in the civilized societies around the globe. Its continued existence remains a source of concern for all segments of human society. Different socio-economic factors can be held responsible for the prevailing poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, lack of family planning, dissatisfaction about education system, absence of social security mechanism and many others. Now it is the responsibility of the government to provide children with their rights and to protect them from all sorts of exploitation, because the future of mankind and civilization lies in children. Their protection from physical and social hazards is a pre-requisite for proper development of children to ensure future progress and prosperity of mankind.” (Khan)

Objective of the Study

The aim of this study is to determine the factors responsible for child labor in Pakistan and to find out the problems which affect the children to do work in early age in which all children are going to schools and play. Another aim if research is to know that what are the factors due to which a child in enforced to be a child labor in Pakistan. The objective of the study is to find out variables and factor due to which child labor occur or what are the causes behind child labor, why children do work in small age and the forms of the child labor in the country. The main three variables behind child labor are poverty, inflation and unemployment in the country which are somewhere cause of child labor. The primary object of this study is to estimate the effect of poverty, literacy, inflation and unemployment on the occurrence of child labor. So

HYPOTHESIS

The study would be based on following hypothesis; these hypothesis have been develop after reviewing the relevant literature

To analyze the effect of poverty on child labor

H1: Effect of poverty on child labor is significant

H1o: Effect of poverty on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of Literacy on child labor

H2: Effect of inflation on child labor is significant

H2o: Effect of literacy on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of inflation on child labor

H2: Effect of inflation on child labor is significant

H2o: Effect of inflation on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of Unemployment on child labor

H3: Effect of Unemployment on child labor is significant

H3o: Effect of Unemployment on child labor is in-significant

Chapter # 2
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Child is a person 14 years and below.

Child labor is a permanent employment of children under the age of legal minimum. Worldwide total numbers of child labor (5-14 ages) are 250 million and almost half of them 120 million are working full-time.

“According to The ILO and the ETI Base Code state that a child is any person younger than 15 years of age, unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age shall apply. If however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years.” (Ethical Trade Insentive, 2012)

“According to the United Nations, a “child” is any person under the age of 18. Specific labor laws may consider people under the age of 16 children for legal purposes, and in some countries the cut off may be even lower, around 12 or 14. Statistics on this type of labor usually focus on children between the ages of five and 14, because many nations in which child labor are a problem have laws which allow people to work full time after the age of 14.”(wise greek)

“Child labor was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous children aged 5-14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, and mining and in services such as newsier. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labor fell.”(encyclopedia)

The worst forms of child labor. In all over the world there are an expected 218 million child laborers, which a in between the ages 5 to 17. A number of 126 million of these children work in hazardous conditions such as: Working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture, working with dangerous machinery, Forced and bonded labor, Armed conflict, Sexual exploitation and child pornography, illegal activities.

Gender differences in child work activities:
Activity
Gender differences

House cleaning

Only girls

Collecting ¬?re wood/ dry cow dung to sell

Both boys and girls but more commonly girls

Cleaning

Both boys and girls

Cooking food

Only girls

Child care

Both boys and girls but mostly girls

Mini-bus conductors, household maids,

Mini-bus conductors are commonly boys, housemaids

Loading goods on pack animals for market

but commonly boys

construction child labour

commonly boys

Waiters, kitchen hands in restaurants

Both girls and boys engage in work in cuisine, cleaning dishes in restaurants

Apprentices in garages/ workshops

Only boys work as apprentices in garages

Working as a porter

Boys do more brokering, working as porters

Causes of Child Labor:
Poverty

Children work for a variety of reasons. The major reason is poverty. Poverty is the lack of food, shelter, money and clothing that occurs when people cannot satisfy their basic needs. Poverty can be understood only lack of money or most of them in terms of barriers in everyday life. At certain levels of poverty in developing countries, child labor could play a useful role in the economic survival, which increases national economic development.

The unequal attention of poverty between children compared to adults demands reason and attention. Child labor causes poverty because when a child is employed he takes a place of an adult job, so there is decrease in adult income in the industry. And when the child is without education and they do work so there is no possibility of escaping from poverty. Poverty in the country is the main cause of child labor which forces the parents to send their children to work. Poor Families which face the poverty force their children to work for extra income for their household’s. Poor families like to have more children and when the income of an individual one in not enough then they force their little children to go for work anywhere they have. A large number of members represent a financial need for families suffering from poverty; parents are forced to send their children to work to earn extra income.

Lack of education

Between the poorer parts of society is also most important cause for children to start working before time. Necessary education is not free in all countries and in many countries it is not available for all children, especially in rural areas. So if there are schools in some areas there is poor education or where education is expensive parents observe no value in education field then due to this situation parents send their children to work rather than schools. Children are mostly encouraged to work by their parents. Uneducated and unaware people never think about child labor and they are also unaware of the dangerous physical and mental pain of children. When parents agree to their children to go work, it affects their chances to go school. Schooling problems also contribute to child labor. Many times children search for employment just because there is no access to schools. Even as the parents cannot afford for their children to be educated nor do they understand the importance of primary education in children lives. Or Due to insufficient educational facilities many families think that school won’t help their children survive.

Gender inequity

Means gender differences which refer to inequality between persons due to gender. The encouragement of gender equality means give equal opportunities to boys and girls, and men and women. Social thoughts towards girls and women are most important cause of child labor effect on child to do work because women are not allowed to go outside from home for any work. The encouragement of equality between girls, boys, men and women. Child labor is work which subjects children to use and abuse.

Lack of unemployment

Lack of unemployment of adults and when the adults are not in position to do work like disable adults or ill adults or death member of the family.

Demand for child labor

Demand for child labor is increasing day by day for cheap labor which is also a cause of child labor. Market demand of child labor cause strong demand by many companies because they want to win large market share. So children are considered as a cheap source of labor which provides an opportunity to increase earnings. And Demand for cheap labor by contractor’s means that children are often offered in the workplace of their parents. With limited margins of this type, such as contractors and farmers make game owners know that children can be exploited and forced to work for less than minimum wage.

Escape from home

This may also factor or cause of child labor. When a child escapes from home he may have many reasons like

Bad temper of the parents, because generally the insufficient salary of fathers provides lack of basic human needs to their families which create a frustration and anger in the members of family after that it turn to the attitude of fathers or head of family in harsh or strict due to which a child prefer to leave from the home in search of his own comforts, it might be physical or mantel. And when a child leaves the home he faces different problems of necessities so that why he have to do any work to survive.

Company of other children plays an important role in child grooming because the company of friend makes a child manner able and social. It is psychological fact that surroundings affect individual’s behaviors and attitudes and the habits of child is also depend on the company of family and friends. Usually negative activities between the children create negative impact on child personality. Due to this sometime the passion of negative activities level become high and serious for a children future. In these situations the strictness from home and school enforce children to escape.

Behaviors of the teachers at schools also plays very important role in child life. Because teachers are the builders of nation. But in our society the way of teaching is quite harsh and the methods of teaching are also useless. Mostly children are punished physically for their minor mistakes which create unfriendly atmosphere then due to these type of behavior of teachers impact bad impression on children and force child to runaway. And after those majority children get negative feedback from home as well so they escape.

Attractions beyond the home also cause of child labor because it is the human nature that a person mostly tends toward those things which they don’t have. And these types of want are found in children. In some cases due to some reasons parents are unable to provide the needs of their children so this also lead to child to escape for necessities.

Political Crises

Political crises and political issues Sometimes have caused violence, rallies, strikes, civil wars, terrorism and armed conflicts due to which there is a political and economic instability in the country so adults are unable to do work or jobs or in some other situations children have to do work for their needs.

Overpopulation

Large family sizes and over population are main factors which cause child labor. The basic cause of child labor is high population growth-rate, particularly in Third World countries. According to Wikipedia.org, “Pakistan has increased its ranking from 7 to 6th in the list of most populous countries of the world. The figures are based on a July 1, 2007 estimate by the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Population Division.

Industrial revolution

Revolution in industries plays role for child labor. Sometimes multinationals prefer to use child labor in developing countries due to industrial revolution and these which encourages multinationals to use child workers which cause a negative impact on children. Due to all these reasons child labor recruited for less pay, they take extra work from them and there is no problem of union in industry as well. This situation is also difficult for adults to find jobs and send their children for work.

Impact on Child Labor:

Immature and inexperienced child laborers might be totally unaware of the short and long term risks involved in their work. Children who work frequently face serious health problems due to continuous work in hazardous conditions. The employers also don’t care at all about child labor that are unhealthy and carry on working for long time with a tiny or no break. Child laborers are mostly without a basic education, regular social interaction, and emotional support from their family.

Lifetime physical and emotional hurt to the child. Their mental health also crushes. Mostly children face mental trauma when they reach to maturity.

Children that cannot find work to feed big families choice to begging on the streets and in many cases child labor also killed or become victim of prostitution. And in many cases children turn in to thieves only because they need rapid money on which their families are depended.

It also has a negative impact on the benefit of the country. Because these children do not get any education, and increasing literacy, and slow down the country’s economic growth in general, reflecting the weakness of human development.

Girls who work as home servants away from their homes, sometimes in different Middle Eastern countries, are common victims of mental, physical and sexual abuses which cause shocking consequences on their physical condition.

Some circumstances which are faced by the child are dangerous workplaces, full time work in early age, loss of education and future opportunities, too much working hours subjection to verbal, physical, psychological and sexual abuse, limited or no pay, no way to get education, powerless to run away from poverty cycle they do work in streets in bad conditions.

Illegal Activities

Now a day’s children have strong involvement in illegal activities like the production and trafficking of drugs. Trafficking is illegal activity of buying and selling of drugs in which a lot of children are involved. Mostly children may do these activities because they belief that this will give them money and status. Children who do this work take great risk of abuse and are addicted of drugs in early age. And then these children also doing other crimes like robbery, theft, mugging, hijacking, and the children may also do this for their gangs or for their family. These all activities by children are also done due to poverty. And also affect their mental and physical growth.

Hypothetical Model and Variables under Consideration
Literacy
Inflation
Unemployment
Poverty
Child Labor
LITERATURE REVIEW

(Dessy, 2003), “Shows the Harmful forms of child labor have an economic role: by maintaining wages for child labor high enough, they allow human capital accumulation in poor countries. Unless appropriate mechanisms are designed to mitigate the decline in child labor wages caused by reduced employment options for children, a ban on harmful forms of child labor will likely prove undesirable. Poverty alleviation techniques would eliminate that segment of the worst forms of child labor. A food-for-education program, however, might help boost support for a ban on harmful forms of child labor. Because it relaxes the liquidity constraint of the poor, this food-for-education program may induce more time spent at school, which may be sufficient to offset the negative effects of the sudden increase in the supply of child laborers We perform our analysis within a simple model of parental investment in children’s education.”

(Ebudhia) Wrote “Child labor is the worst from of child exploitation. It is widespread all over the world. About seventy-three million children belonging to the age group of ten to fourteen years are engaged in child labor all over the globe. Illiteracy of the parents, large families, need of additional income and poverty are the chief causes of the exploitation of child labor. Parents are indirectly responsible for this. Childhood is the foundation of one’s career. At this stage, children should be sent to schools, not to work. Child labor lowers the wage rates of adult laborers. Employers exploit children due to their docile nature and their willingness to do monotonous jobs. They face health problems. Several programmed have been undertaken both at the national and international level to check and stop this practice. The people should also help the government in its efforts to tackle this problem.”

(Sanjeeta) Wrote that, “Child labor is, no doubt, an evil that should be done away with at the earliest. The prevalence of child labor reflects very badly on society that is not able to stop this evil. But in a society where many households may have to suffer the pangs of hunger if the children are withdrawn from work, beggars can’t be choosers. These families have to send their children to work, even if the future of these innocents is ruined, as that is the only choice open for them to survive in this world. Therefore, unless the socio-economic status of the poor families is improved, India has to live with child labor.”

(Sparc, 2012) Said that, “Negligence on part of the government and parents, corporal punishment, poverty and poor law and order situation, especially in Fata, are the major factors behind child labor. After 18th constitutional amendment, child labor has become the legislative and administrative domain of the provincial governments,” “Children are being abused verbally, physical and sexually in factories, homes and streets, while many of them suffer from fatal ailments,” he said, adding that 85 per cent of child labor in the country worked in automobile sector. Working children were being used by militants in suicide attacks across the country. He complained that Child Protection Units in district levels were ineffective, and urged the government to conduct proper surveys to know facts and figures about child labor for necessary action by NGOs.”

According to (ILO, 2002), “Despite the increasing commitment by governments and their partners to tackle child labor worldwide, it remains a problem on a massive scale,” said Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO. “While there has been significant progress towards the effective abolition of child labor, the international community still faces a major uphill struggle against this stubbornly pervasive form of work that takes a tragic toll on millions of children around the world.” It also says a lack of law enforcement, and the desire on the part of some employers for a cheap and flexible workforce worsens the situation. “The effective abolition of child labor is one of the most urgent challenges of our time and should be a universal goal.”

(FASIH, 1998) The study has attempted to classify the supply side of determinants of child labor in Pakistan. The scholars have used the sample of 14,094 children from Punjab (Pakistan) in the age group of 5-14 years obtained from the child labor survey 1996. The study examines the supply side determinants of child labor by using the multinomial logit model. The study concluded that

The possibility of going to school increases at a decreasing rate

The children who join school with work remain in school for a longer period

The possibility of becoming full time child worker increase with age

The possibility of females children mostly in the labor force shows that females are 4.7 percent less likely to attend school

Children who have taken some technical or professional training are more likely to become child laborers and start work at an early age

Mother’s literacy plays a positive role in schooling decision for female children. The girls who have literate mothers are 18 percent more likely to get to school moreover female children of literate mothers are 14 percent less likely to become child laborer

The period in life cycle of the head of the family of expected to have a important effect in the case of schooling work choice. The older the head of family, the more likely it is that the child attend school

Siblings of less than 4 years have negative effect on schooling and part time work and siblings in between the age group of 5-9 years has negative effect on part tome work.”

According to (Tesfay, 2003), “Drawing upon the historical experience of advanced industrial countries, both legal restrictions and economic factors played a role in reducing child labour, although legislation appears to have been less significant. The process of industrialization may have initially increased the demand for and the scope of children’s work, however the long run economic impact of the industrial revolution resulted in its eventual elimination. Thus an increase in the aggregate number of child workers is expected to be transitory. The declining importance of children in industry combined with increasing female wage rates and the rising price of child rearing inputs, all contribute to the rising cost of child quantity and the decline in child demand. Moreover, a decline in the economic value of children in the home and in agriculture will increase the cost of children, in turn, reducing the demand for them. These factors also reduce the cost of quality and increase the demand for these commodities relative to quantity. Thus, it is the long-run economic forces of technological change, rising income, the higher price of raising children and the corresponding declining relative cost of child quality that explain the changing economic role of children over time.”

According to (Rena, 2006), “Education and child labor is the second Millennium Goal to achieve universal primary education before 2015. This is an objective based on the UNESCO Declaration on Education for All and is defined as ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling. The duration of primary education will vary from country to country with an absolute minimum of 5 years from the age of 7 to the age of 12. The definition of child labor foresees however that the education or vocational training should continue to at least the age of 14 or 15. In countries where primary education only includes 5 years, one will see a high number of economically active children in the age group of 12 to 14, many of whom will be child laborers. As stated earlier, education is seen a right for all children and as a way for individuals and societies to develop. Given economic development, the return to education is proven to be very high for individuals. However, many developing countries will not be able to meet this objective in the short time frame. Hence child labor will remain a serious challenge to the MDG. Child labor also affects school performance as children miss important lessons and fall behind academically. This creates a burden not only on the individual child but also on the entire education system.”

According to (Khan), “That child is the demand of employers. Alongside factors which push children into earning money are others which pull children into the world of work. Cheap and well-trained with reasonably low wages paid to children are often a reason why employers prefer them to adult workers. Some children work unpaid, particularly as domestic workers, in conditions that would be denounced as “slavery” if they involved adults. Employers find children more obedient and easier to control. Unlike older workers, they are unlikely to initiate protests or form trade unions. Poor infrastructure is another factor that shows the practical difficulty of establishing a child’s actual age in countries where the infrastructure may not be in place for e.g. systematic birth registration. This can disadvantage children in many ways. The role of education is also factor that children who receive little or no school education miss out on the knowledge that can create options for them later in life. Without it, they make less contribution as adults and are more exposed to exploitation and abuse. Not attending school is consequently both a cause and effect of child labor.”

According to (Udry, 2003), “Lessons for policies that can move children from work to school is also a cause of child labor. He wrote that Child labor should be understood as the consequence of people coping with extreme circumstances. It is a result of current poverty and a cause of continued poverty for the children who sacrifice their education in order to work. It is a particularly insidious problem because its primary costs are long-delayed and realized by the child, while the benefits a

Child labor is something where children of younger age start to earn in order to support their family. In other words, child labor is any kind of work children are made to do that harms or exploits them physically, mentally or morally. According to the World Labor Report, the child labor is considered as ‘forced labor’ because children are rarely in a position to give free consent to any activities performed by them as most aspect of their lives are determined by adults.

Child labor is a curse to our society and a crime against humanity. Children work when they are supposed to play or go to school. By making them work in this tender age we are not only destroying their future, but also playing with the destiny of the country. “The child is the father of man.” This famous line quoted by William Wordsworth specifies the importance of the child for the development of building a healthy nation and society. Childhood is the most innocent stage in human life. A child normally has to enjoy its childhood days with its parents, teachers, friends etc. It is that stage of life where fine and long lasting impressions gather in child’s mind. However, this simple rule of nature has been crippled by the ever-growing menace of child labor.

In this modern world, child labor still remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. Today, throughout the world, around 215 million children are child labors. The sad thing is that they work under hazardous circumstances. More than half of them are exposed to the worst form of child labor such as work in harmful environments, slavery, or other forms of forced labor, illicit activities including drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed conflict.

Child labor is a major problem in India. It is a great challenge that the country is facing. India accounts for the second highest number of child labors after Africa. In a country like India where over 40 percent of the population is living in conditions of extreme poverty, child labor is a complex issue. However, acute poverty is the main cause for child labor throughout the world, but everybody – society. Parents, government, individual, low wages, unemployment, poor standard of living, deep social prejudices and backwardness are directly responsible for child labor in India.

In Indian, despite, there is no enactment which genuinely contributed for eradication of child labor. The constitution in article – 25 states that no child below 14 years will be employed in any factories or mines or engaged in any hazardous occupation that is harmful for them. But, till now it is not remarked anywhere of ablution or elimination of child labor. Admitting that the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act of 1986 have put forward some average working conditions for children who work in hazardous environment, yet the word hazardous has not been specified clearly anywhere in the constitution, or in any act asserted on child labor. Thus, the clarification of the term ‘hazardous’ is unclear and inadequate especially in the case of child labor.

Child labor can be factory work, mining, or quarrying, agriculture, helping in parents’ business, having one’s own small business, or doing odd jobs. Children work as waiters in restaurants and sometimes as tourist’s guides. Other children are forced to do draggy and uninteresting jobs such as polishing shoes of rich people or accumulating boxes. However, instead of working in factories and sweatshops, most child labor occurs in the informal sector, children are forced to sell products on the streets, work in agriculture fields or hidden away in houses- far from the reach of official labor inspectors and from media inspection.

There are many types of child labor but bonded child labor or slave labor is one of the worst types of labor for children. It is estimated that approximately 10 million bonded children laborers are working as domestic servants in India. Apart from this there are nearly 55 million bonded child laborers who are employed across several other industries. A recent International Labor Organization (ILO) report says that in India there are about 80 percent of child laborers who are hired in the agriculture sector. Generally, the children are sold to the rich moneylenders to whom borrowed money cannot be returned. In addition to this ‘Street children’ is another type of child labor where children work on the street as beggars, flower sellers, etc. Sometimes children are not being provided with food for long so that people feel sorry for them and give alms. The statistical information regarding child labor cannot be taken to be precise, as there are areas where no accounting has been done.

Child labor is in fact, a source of income for poor families. Poor parents give birth to children thinking they would earn more money. The children either increase their parent’s income or are the only wage earners in the family. Because of poverty families are forced to send their children into labor, the employers find it a source of cheap and trouble free labor. Children can be beaten and tormented into doing dirty jobs. Innocent children are employed by industries and individuals who put them to work under exhausting environments. They are made to work for long hours in dangerous factory units and sometimes made to carry load even heavier than their own body weight.

Millions of children are involved in work that is unacceptable for children, including the sale and trafficking of children into debt bondage, serfdom, and forced labor. It includes the forced employment of children for armed conflict, commercial sexual exploitation and illicit activities such as producing and trafficking drugs.

This is the story of child labor in all the poor developing and underdeveloped countries of world including India. Even after sixty-five years of independence India has not been able to give any liberation to the poor. Yet withdrawal of child labor is cureless task in the current socio-economic scenario, the Indian government is dedicated to the task of confirming that all the children should be literate and that no child remains illiterate, hungry and without medical care. When this ideal will be achieved is a million dollar question.

Child labor is, no doubt an evil that should be done away with at the earliest. The prevalence of child labor rebound and effects adversely on society that it is not able to stop this evil. But in a society where many households have to go through the discomfort of starvation if the children are withdrawn from work, beggars can’t be chooser. Unfortunately these families have to send their children to work, knowing that the future of the child will be ruined but they have to, as that is the only way open for them to survive in this world. Therefore unless the socio economic status of the poor families is improved, India has to live with child labor.

Child labor is considered as major problem of the economy and they work for survival of themselves and their family. Child labor is considered as significant hurdle in the development of nation. Mainly in Asian countries it is recognized as one of the biggest unethical practice that is common in the public as well as private enterprises. Instead of having various international and national regulatory authority regulating and monitoring child labor in the Asian countries, such curse on human practices are being continued in the society. Most of developing countries of Asia still facing problem of poverty and fighting against it, many of the parents send their children outside for working instead of schools so that they can earn money for fulfilling their needs. Thus the uneducated children do not get developed and the poverty problem always remains constant for such families and thus restricts the economic growth of the Asian countries.

Strategy to Combat Child Labor in Asia:

Child labor is deemed as the most complex problem of the Asia and thus one single strategy for combating with child labor is not sufficient for this purpose collective strategies can only be the efficient solution in order to eliminate such curse on humanity. Thus in order to combat such an unethical and wicked act of child labor following strategies should be implemented within the ground of Asia:

Workplace Monitoring to Combat Child Labor:

For opposing child labor, empowerment of children and parents against the child labor is not sufficient for combating against child labor for this community plays vital role in combating against it. This community consists of groups such as managers, employers, workers, community leaders, suppliers and agencies. The mentoring programs is also need to set up which make sure that those children who already withdrawn from the child labor should be facilitated with some effective educational programs so that they can learn related to the education. Some factors that are included in the ILO-IPEC prevention and mentoring programs are as follows:

For scheduled and unscheduled visits, classifying it in various different areas.

Maintaining whole records for observing effectiveness of monitoring programs.

Corporation from community group such as employers, workers, administration, and government department also.

Assuring that no children is being employed in any industries or other sectors of economy.

An international monitoring team that involves International Labor Organization project staff should be operated.

Encouraging the employers and manufactures in order to enhance their monitoring system against child labor.

Associating linkage to social protection components of the programs (Vahapassi, 2000).

Regional efforts against Child Labor:

This effort involves cooperation in order to combat against the problem of the child labor. The Child Workers in Asia (CWA) and Task Force on Child Work (TFCDW) acts as the significant driving force behind the contribution from regions. Some priority against the child labor for Task Force on Child Work includes following schedule:

Support of government and general public.

Support of legislative policies and procedures.

Capacity building.

Linking the issues of child domestic workers to the child trafficking.

Encouragement to child participation and involvement.

Mobilization of resources and intermediate research actions (Blagbrough).

Community Care:

Community care consists of developing and supporting the capacity of the community to fight against the problem of child labor. This community care consists of following programs:

Provisional Department for Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation.

Women Development association.

Vulnerable Children assistance Organization.

Strengthening Local Structures and Authorities.

Safety net program for village (Blagbrough).

Global March against Child Labor:

The central aim of this Global March against child labor is to protect rights of children as well as to promote child for education. It provides awareness among the children that to get free of cost education and also delivers that to work in any organization can affect the health of children in terms of physically, mentally or socially.

Stop Child Labor Movements:

Child labor emphasized on the following principles in order to raise awareness against the child labor:

It is not acceptable at any cost to employing child at work place.

Government, MNCs and other employment bodies should ensure that they are not employing child labors in their organizations. As a part of their social responsibility, all enterprises that are using children in their organization should incorporate plans in order to remove child labor from work place.

Some labor standards should be implemented in order to eliminate the evil practices of the child labors. This eradication of child labor is linked to the endorsement of other labor standards workplace.

Child labor should be eradicated against the right to education for the child. In the provision, it is mentioned that children have the right of education until their age are allowed to work. Necessary aids such as financial and infrastructural support are made by government for the provision of quality education (Stop Child Labour – School is the Best Place to Work).

Education as Preventive Strategy to Combat against Child Labor:

A quality education and training is an essential element in order to eradicate the child labor by the empowerment of children against the unethical elements. The current figures on the education enrollment expose that around 72 million children are having the age of primary school are not even enrolled although not attend the school regularly or they drop out their enrollment for the purpose of supporting their family. The education is the key element to solve the problem of poverty in the nation. If the education is not given to the current generation then it will be continue from one generation to the next upcoming generations. Better education and training helps to develop interpersonal skills and qualification that is required in todayaˆ™s labor market and with the aid of such education, a child can support their family after being young and exterminate poverty from current situation and encourage their upcoming generation (Mini Action Guide, 2008). The education related policy to combat against child labor includes following programs:

For poor families decreasing the cost of schooling so that they can easily take admission in schools.

Serving trained and professional teachers to the schools so that they can deliver right information to their students.

Providing quality and safe environment at training place.

Encouraging parents so that they send their children to school.

Eliminating barriers for the education of girl child through changing the thinking of parents and this can be accomplished by improving the environment of the school and making it girl friendly.

Enhancing the access of the free education system for the person who comes under below poverty line.

Connecting the economic policies as well as poverty reduction strategies with the education programs.

Through offering incentives to families encourage them for sending their children to schools.

Providing the extra education facility to those who missed out their classes in the schools (Mini Action Guide, 2008).

Conclusion:

Child Labor problem is the complex problem which leads to various other problems in the economy and that is need to be handled effectively so that it could be elimination from the society. Moreover, this child labor problem can not be solved with a strategy; the various collective strategies are required that can provide optimum solution for such problem. Thus to combat with such practices, several strategies are discussed in the report should be incorporated with the cooperation of community groups and government in order to make child labor and poverty free society.

Since many years, child labor has been a serious problem that a lot of organizations were trying to deal with. In fact Lebanon is one of the countries suffering from this issue, especially in poor surroundings of the main cities and in rural districts. According to Kofi Annan(1999), “Child labor has serious consequences that stay with the individual and the society for far longer than the years of childhood.” Young not only face dangerous work conditions. They face long term physical, intellectual and emotional stress. They face an adulthood of unemployment and illiteracy. Few human rights abuses are so widely condemned, yet so widely unnoticed…” For these purposes I’m against child labor, and I think it’s the responsibility of the government to help working children.

According to UNICEF response to child employment, “Child labor is reported as one of the social problems in Lebanon. There are about 3163 children aged 10-13 years that work in Lebanon, while the number of those looking for work in this age group is 1947. These represent respectively 1.2% and 0.7% of the total population in that age group. On the other hand, there are 28786 working children aged 14-17 years and 9525 of that same age group looking for work, representing 10.9% and 3.6% respectively of children in that age group. The region of North Lebanon has the highest proportion of working children with respect to the two age groups 10-13 years and 14-17 years. It is followed by the region of Mount Lebanon, then Beirut, Beqaa and the South. Overall, the districts of Tripoli, Minyeh, Akkar, Baabda, Baalbeck, Zahleh, Saida and Tyre have about 80% of working children aged 10-13 years. In the North, working children are found mostly in the districts of Tripoli, Akkar and Minyeh (91-97% of working children in this region). In the region of Mount Lebanon, the districts of Baabda and Metn have the highest proportion of working children. More specifically, the poor urban neighborhoods of Bab Tebbaneh in Tripoli, Bourj Barajneh in Baabda and Bourj Hammoud in Metn are the worst affected areas in these districts.”(UNICEF, 2008, p.1-2)

Many children are working 6 days a week and more than 10 hours a day in hard fields especially like agriculture. According to ILO(International Labor Organization office in Beirut): “Children are working hard for price of 7 dollars a week sometimes which is unfair”. Employer s are interested in hiring teenagers and children under eighteen because they are cheaper especially when their profit are less than expected. Employer does not care about the feelings of the young youths they, keep mistreating them by giving them choirs they cannot handle. Walid a young child living in Tarik al jdideh (Beirut), is a ten year old boy working in a garage. Walid works from 8 am till 6 pm fixing cars and get paid 10 dollars per week. Walid is always complaining of the hard work he is supposed to handle, and from the maltreatment of his boss. Walid is one proof that working children are suffering in Lebanon. Most of these kids are boys, maltreated in several cities and villages in Lebanon whereas they are forced to carry heavy loads, handle chemicals, marble cutting, selling items on roads under bad circumstances and in farms where they are exposed to pesticides. Children laboring in gardening may also be constrained to assemble tobacco, sugar cane, and other crops where they will be subjected to equally harmful conditions. Moreover, kids are obliged to use dangerous machinery, handle toxic chemicals without protective gear; they are also confronting sexual abuse or slavery, especially girls that are sold from their parents to earn extra money. Most of these kids are working in very bad conditions affecting their health, living differently from a normal kid and risking their future. Racha is a good example of a teenager who was forced to depart from her house in the village to work as a housemaid in the industrialized Aley district. Rasha had been raped by the man in the house after several temptations made by him. Sexual abuse of working boys and girls is a crime that will probably destroy the life of the young youths. (Alami, 2007, p.1-2)

Many children are dropping out from school and leaving their education in order to work and give money for their parents. The learning level of laboring kids is too small comparing to the learning level of the labor force in all areas in Lebanon. “The percentage of uneducated worker in the labor force in Lebanon is about 49%, this percentage is 95% concerning children working aged between 10 and 13 years and 84% of those age between 14 and 17 years”. (UNICEF, 2008). Yusuf a 12 years old guy who works now in agriculture, is a good example of many kids who left school early and started working. It is the right of the children to get education and go to school instead of that they are facing problems that pushes them to leave school and start working. Many young kids lose their ambitions in order to work and help their fathers. It is unfair for children to drop out from school as their future will be ruined, they will have to work the same work they are working today not having a bachelor degree they won’t be able to go further in their lives. It is also unfair for them to miss all the joy of the school days. School days are the best days of a child life as he meets friends in school, develop relations, and learn how to interact with others. School is a basic time needed by the children before getting to the large world of work. (Alami, 2007, p. 2-3)

Somehow child labor has a big influence on the society. When the number of working children increases the number of non educated adults will increase, children will be the future of the societies. A society of non educated society is a rural society where people have no respect for each other. You can see that these kinds of societies are the societies where more problems happen, where no one understand the other, and where the neighbor kill his neighbor. As we said before the number of working children is bigger in rural countries of Lebanon like Tripoli, and Bekaa, effectively these are two countries that are full of problems as we see on the news every day. Problems always happen in Tripoli between the people living there; in the Bekaa also car steeling and crimes are very often. Education pushes the society to a higher level, and since education is absent between young working kids their society will be on a lower level than others. Poor societies are societies where most kids start working early. Such societies will always be poor as no one will get educated enough to get a suitable job. So a main problem of the poor societies in Lebanon is child labor. (Schmitz & Traver & Larson, 2004)

The opposing point of view is the one of the parents of the children and the employers who hires children. Parents when in need oblige their kids to go and get a job in order to make money. Some parents think that their oldest son should leave everything and go to work to help his brothers and sisters. This is common in most Lebanese areas as we see in most families the older son suffers from lack of education. These parents also think that their children are born to serve them and to help them get money to live more comfortably. Some parents that they were also working in very early ages of their life would let their children work in purpose that they will be stronger and more experienced and might be able to easily go over hard situations they may face in the future. Other parents might sell their daughters by saying that they will get married sooner or later so why don’t they sell them and earn high revenue of money. Employers also say that they are hiring children who came freely to get work and they are not doing something wrong so they can profit of the low salary these children get which make the cost of the products less and they will be in fewer prices in the market so all the people will also profit. We can see that most restaurants in Lebanon hire young boys for the delivery choirs for example and for serving clients etcaˆ¦

Personally I think it’s very wrong for the parents to let their kids work at young age especially if they work under the supervision of abusing bosses. Kids are suffering in their work as they work in dangerous chemicals and pesticides. Kids have the rights to learn and live their childhood happily and safely. Some employers are criminals because they abuse children; such employers should be caught and arrested because of their actions against children who are so weak to say no or to protest against their parents and bosses.

Finally Child labor is a wide problem that should be regulated especially in Lebanon. Children are suffering in their work, dropping out from school early, and infecting the whole society. I think government should work on reducing the number of working children, and to control the hours of work and the salaries. By fixing these issues working children will have better work situation, better opportunities by going to school, having normal life like every teenager should get. It is their right to learn so they can become successful persons in their societies.

One basic human rights principle laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 is that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights (Article 1 UDHR). However, specifically vulnerable groups such as women, indigenous people, and children have been assigned special protection by the UN legal framework (Steiner & Alston, 2000). The UN Convention for the Rights of the Child (UNCROC), 1989 remind us that children, whilst retaining their entitlement to the full range of human rights, are often marginalised or excluded, and represent a special case required additional safeguards (DCI, 1995).

In this 21st century, the status of children in Australia needs to be improved nationally and internationally for economic and political success in the future (Nyland, 1999). Teachers and caregivers have opportunities to incorporate “rights education” into any part of their program that creates openings for teaching children about rights (Waters, 1998). In this essay, I will discuss the role of early childhood settings in enacting and promoting the children rights envisaged in the UNCROC and in making these rights available to Australian children.

Children’s Rights: Setting Standards

Legal conceptions of children

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child marked a fundamental shift away from past conceptions of children and childhood to a new one. Until then, the law had seen a child as property – the property of the father – to be dealt with and disposed of as he saw fit (Hart & Pavlovic, 1991). However a conceptual shift took place during the 19th century, based on the perception of children as vulnerable and so in need of protection from poverty, the voices of industrialization, immigration and urban living. In addition, to being considered property, the child began to be considered as a resource to society (Hart & Pavlovic, 1991).

The human rights movement of the 20th century, previously focused for adult rights was extended to children (Hart & Pavlovic, 1991) though children were still seen as vulnerable and in need of protection but this status was subsumed in a broader understanding of children as full human beings with all the human rights and fundamental freedoms that all human beings have. Their need for protection was transformed into a right to protection. Now children are considered as rights-holders (CRC GC7, 2005) like adults.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the universal statement of this new conception of rights-holders. The United Nations General Assembly on Nov 20, 1989 adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC). In 1990 Australia ratified the UNCROC and to date 191 countries have ratified the Convention, while USA and Somalia have become signatories. The Convention is the most full and complete international legal document on children’s rights, covering their protection, growth and wellbeing (Alston, 1991). The Convention deals with child-specific needs and rights, and requires that states act in the best interests of the child (Nyland, 1999).

The objective of the Convention is to protect children from discrimination, neglect, abuse and to promote children’s rights and serves as a focus point and a useful tool for civil society and individual people (Nyland, 1999). The widespread ratification of UNCROC by the international community has made it a powerful catalyst for action on behalf of young children and has gradually become embedded within the policies and practices of all who works with children. According to Arnold (2004) “The CRC has more signatories than any other international convention, and it is important for us to recognize the legal implications of this achievement in how we position our work” (p.4).

The effect of the Convention for Children in Australia

From the ratification of the UNCROC in 1990 by Australia until the present, we can say that the Convention has realised neither the brightest hopes of its supporters nor the most terrible fears of its opponents. The ratification of an international instrument by Australia, such as the Convention, does not ipso facto make that instrument part of domestic law hence the UNCROC is not part of Australian domestic law. Therefore, it has not revolutionised public policy making for children, nevertheless it has led to many very significant initiatives and reforms. Thus for the purpose of human rights and equal opportunity, the Convention has been affirmed an international instrument relating to human rights and freedoms (Alderson, 2000). Consequently, the Convention has provided the legal and conceptual basis for the establishment of children’s commissioners in most Australian jurisdictions.

Children’s rights and early childhood settings

Early childhood, the period from birth to 6-8 years, is a significant and unique time in the life of every individual. Children mainly stay at home, schools and recreational institutions in their everyday lives during these years (Rasmusen, 2004). These environments have been created by adults therefore adults play a powerful and unique role in building quality early childhood practice. Quality experiences for each child are supported and ensured by the experience, qualification and competencies of adults, in addition to their capacity to reflect upon their role (Wyatt, 2004). This challenging and vital role in the life of the young child needs to be appropriately supported, resourced, and valued. Therefore, quality early childhood care and education must value and support the role of parents as well as that of the staff (Thorpe & Thomson, 2003). The best interest of the child is promoted by the open, honest and respectful partnership with parents.

Basing early childhood services on children’s rights

Children’s rights are relevant to early childhood education and care. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is directed towards the well-being of every child and the full development of every child to her or his full potential (Butler, 1993), and early childhood education and care settings share that direction and commitment. The Convention states that the first objective of education is “the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential” (Art. 29 (1)). Quality Early childhood education and care contributes to the full personal development of children.

Early childhood institutions contribute to implementation of the requirements of the Convention in relation to the child’s right to the highest attainable standard of health care (Art. 24), the right to education (Art. 28), the right to protection from exploitation, abuse and neglect (Art. 19), the right to play and recreational activities “appropriate to the age of the child” and to participate in cultural life (Art. 31). Institutions also have particular regard for the specific needs and rights of particular groups of children specified in the Convention: refugee and asylum seeker children (Art. 22), children with disability (Art. 24), children of ethnic and religious minorities and indigenous children (Art. 30), children placed in alternative care (Art. 20), children who are the victims of abuse and neglect (Art. 39) (Alderson, 2000).

In Australia, the importance of children’s rights to early childhood care and education is recognised in many of the key documents that express the values and goals of the sector. The first commitment to children in its Code of Ethics is to act in the best interests of the child and the second commitment is a more general one, to “respect the rights of children as enshrined in the UNCROC and commit to advocating for these rights” (ECA Code of Ethics, 2006). Its policy positions are based on principles that “reflect adherence and commitment to” the Convention on the Rights of the Child (ECA position statement consulting with young children).

Children’s rights issues for early childhood institutions

Early childhood education and care institutions address children’s immediate needs and well-being, that is, children’s lives as children (Rasmusen, 2004). They provide children with opportunities for learning, play and socialisation. They provide the foundations for literacy, numeracy, later learning, and future life opportunities. They also focus for addressing the rights of particular groups of children such as indigenous children, refugee and immigrant children, and children with disabilities.

The way children’s rights are interpreted and acted upon in early childhood institutions has some cultural/social implications (Nyland, 1999). For example, when children interact in the complex cultural environment of a day care setting that can provides us with insights into how they construct their views of the world and culture. Therefore as adults we should observe children very closely in order to understand what they are trying to tell us about their surroundings.

Mostly caregivers support children’s developmental activities on observed activities that focus mainly on the individual child and areas of development and divide children into developmental areas – which is a problem because one area or dimension can not exist by itself. Therefore practitioners should be motivated to plan for the different areas of development and therefore move away from play-based curriculum since tasks are developed to aid a particular area of development and overlook or neglect the ideal of whole child (Nyland, 1999). Another constraint of current mode of recording children behavioural observation is that we record observed behaviour – meaning something already has been done by a child (Nyland, 1999) so we look at the child of yesterday and not at the child potential in upcoming future.

In a child care centre caregivers can create an environment focusing on strengthening children’s development in a more holistic way, which will give to the caregivers a better understanding of the physical and social settings of children from where they belong. In the child care centre the caregivers can also identify culturally regulated customs (Nyland, 1999). The adult/caregiver’s role in these developmental areas/physical and social settings is one of scaffolding the child experiences through an environment that is carefully considered in relation to three metaphorical zones (Cole, 1996) i.e. zone of free movement (ZFM), the zone of promoted activity (ZPA) and the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Valsiner, 1987). ZFM is understood as the child’s access to the environment, objects, events and ways of acting (Cole, 1996). ZPA covers a child’s particular action, or response which encouraged him/her to give by a more competent member of the culture or from the same physical environment (Nyland, 1999). But when the ZPA is matched to the child’s present development state which guides further development then it is referred as ZPD (Cole, 1996).

For better understanding of the role of early childhood settings for the protection of children rights, the caregiver’s role is more important and dynamic since s/he can use the metaphorical zones as guide for designing and providing space, objects and interactions. The caregiver own role can be deliberately designed for enhancing the perceived developmental potential in an articulated cultured environment. The cultural activity where development is most likely to occur in a cultured environment is known as leading activity and such activities can be accomplished through manipulation for infants and spontaneous play for children (Bodrova & Leong, 1996).

At one hand the role of caregiver demonstrates a child’s competence for understanding changes and on the other hand the early childhood setting as a learning environment. Such an approach moves away from the straitjacket of areas of development and affords the child a voice while giving the caregiver a more meaningful role within the relationship (Nyland, 1999).

Early childhood workers as leaders in children’s rights advocacy

Early childhood educators have a vital role in advocating children’s rights by taking a proactive approach for recognizing their rights and responding appropriately to policies and systems which adversely affect children’s rights. Child advocacy emphasizes on giving due status to children, increasing their self-determination and the responsiveness and accountability of institutions affecting them (Melton, 1987).

We (caregivers), then are needed as advocates for children’s well-being and not only advocates but leaders in advocacy. The basis of our advocacy should be children’s rights, as recognised in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Why we? Because as early childhood professionals, we have responsibilities and opportunities that require we to be advocates. Our responsibilities come from our role as workers with children. We know them and their needs well (Nyland, 1999). We know what promotes their development and their happiness. We know the importance of services for them being of the highest quality. We also know the consequences of children not receiving the services and support they need for their full development and the consequences of poor quality services. Advocacy cannot be left to others when we have so much expertise and experience. Since children cannot look after their own interest and grossly disadvantaged in protecting their interest, rights and freedoms, therefore, they need advocates (Australia. LRC. HREOC, 1998).

Conclusion

The legal obligations of the Australian government under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are still to be realised, almost 20 years after its ratification. We can move beyond frustration, anxiety and despair and embrace the possibility of hope if we are willing to do so. Children have few choices. We adults and professionals have many. The challenge is to choose to place ourselves at their service and in the service of their rights.

Children have the ability to construct their own images and now it is up to society to help them realize these images. The early childhood practices, like child study, provide a strategy for listening to the very young. A belief in children’s rights and an understanding of children’s strength and competence can be used as a basis for improving the quality of children’s daily lives (Nyland, 1999). By this our early childhood institutions would provide to the children with opportunities for learning, play and socialisation.

So the emerging vision is one of an actively participating and socially competent young child. This young child is ecologically situated: within family and caregiving environments; in relationship with peers; as part of a community; and as a member of society. This young child is to be considered holistically: as a being whose emotional, social physical and cognitive capacities are evolving in various social and cultural settings (CRC GC7, 2005).

Therefore require us to reconsider young, active, participant children in the broadest possible sense, both as individuals and as a constituency.

This paper explores the developmental attributes physically, cognitively and socially of two children, one male and one female, ages five and ten, respectively. This writer will identify the socio-economic status (SEC), age, gender, ethnic background, and family demographics of each of these children. The two children this writer has chosen come from similar living situations (i.e. they both live with single mothers), but have vast differences in their physical, cognitive, and social development. This paper will examine Erik Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages as explained by Dacey, Fiore, Travers (2009) in an effort to explain the noticeable differences in the two children that this writer has chosen to observe. These two children were chosen because they are both being raised in a single parent household, which is something that this writer can relate to, as this writer is a single mother. This writer will also explore the Cognitive Development Approach theories of Jean Piaget and Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Learning in an attempt to further explain the significant differences in these two children.

Childhood Observation
Theories on Human Development

Many psychologists have different perspectives when it comes to analyzing theories on human development. For the purposes of these observations, this writer has chosen to take a closer look at the views of three well known psychologists. The psychological theories of development that this paper will explore are the theories of Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Albert Bandura.

First, this writer will discuss Erik Erikson and his Psychosocial Theory of Development. It is a widely accepted belief that, “Erik Erikson was the chief proponent of a psychosocial theory of development (2009).” This writer believes that Erikson had a great understanding of the human life process. Erik Erikson is best known for his ideas on Stages of Psychosocial Development and Identity Crisis. Erikson broke down the progression of human life into a series of eight stages, each of these stages being marked by a crisis that must be resolved so that the individual can move on to the next stage. It makes perfect sense that everyone should overcome a crisis in order to successfully move on to the next stage in their life. In a seminal work, “Erikson used the term crisis as a developmental term – that is a time of increased vulnerability and heightened potential (Erikson, 1968).” Erikson also contributed to our understanding of personality as it developed and shaped over the course of the lifespan. While we must combine the theories of many psychologists in order to understand the development of humans through the lifespan, Erik Erikson’s views on development seem to be the ones with which most people can closely relate.

Now, we will move our attention to Jean Piaget, a man who was well ahead of his time. It has been said that, “Jean Piaget was among the first researchers to study normal intellectual development (2009).” Jean Piaget is credited as being one of the most significant psychologists of the twentieth century. Piaget focused his attention on the roles that cognitive mechanisms play in development. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development consist of four stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, and Formal operational. Piaget’s first stage is the Sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about two years of age. During the Sensorimotor stage, the “infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world, beginning with reflexes and ending with complex combinations of Sensorimotor skills (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html).” Piaget’s second stage of Cognitive Development is the Preoperational stage, which lasts from two to seven years of age. It is during this stage that children are able to make use of symbols and rapid growth of language occurs. The third stage of Piaget’s Cognitive Development is the Concrete operational stage, which lasts from seven to eleven years of age. In this stage, the child can reason about physical objects. The final stage of Piaget’s Cognitive Development is the Formal operational stage, which occurs from eleven years of age and up. During the Cognitive Development stage, “Piaget believed that abstract thinking leads to reasoning with more complex symbols. In this stage we become increasingly competent of adult-style thinking (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/piaget.html).”

Lastly, the writer would like to discuss Albert Bandura and Social Cognitive Learning. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Learning theory suggests that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. For instance, “The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation (http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html).” As Bandura and Walters (1963) noted, “children often do not do what adults tell them to do but rather what they see adults do, hence learning by observation.” There is much to be gained in the area of Social Cognitive Learning by observing others. That is, “By observing others, children may acquire new responses, including socially appropriate behaviors (2009).” Bandura’s term for observational learning is modeling. In order for effective modeling to take place, there are four conditions that must be present; these conditions include attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. That is, “Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences (http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html).”

Discussion

This writer will begin by describing the subjects of her observations. For this exercise, the researcher used her son, Aidan, and, Samantha, the daughter of her friend, both of which she has known since birth. Aidan is a 5-year-old, white male with no siblings. He is raised in a single parent household and has no contact with his father. Aidan and his mother live in a very large house with the subject’s grandfather on several acres of farm land. Aidan has extensive contact with his grandfather, aunts, uncles, cousins, and close family friends that are considered ‘family.’ Up until recently, Aidan also had extremely close contact and a wonderfully close relationship with his grandmother and great-grandfather, both of whom have passed away within the last two years. In classifying the socio-economic status from which Aidan comes, this writer would describe it as a middle class socio-economic status. Aidan also attends private school with a very small class size. Thus he is privy to more one-on-one contact with his teacher, which is something that may not be available to children attending public schools.

The second subject that the writer observed is, Samantha, who is a 10-year-old girl, with one male sibling (age 4). She is being raised by her single mother and has never had any contact with her father. Samantha lives in a lower-middle class neighborhood with her mother and younger brother. Before moving into her current home, Samantha grew up in an income based housing complex. Samantha’s mother works full time in order to support her two children. Because of her mother’s busy work schedule, Samantha spends most of her time with her maternal grandparents. Samantha is of a lower socio-economic status than the other subject of this paper, attends public school and seems to have a hard time socializing with her classmates and teachers. She also appears to struggle with anger issues and has a rather severe lack of self-confidence.

Given the observations on the subjects above, the writer will now explore the developmental theories of Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Albert Bandura, respectively. First we will begin with Erik Erikson and his Psychosocial Theories of Development. Aidan, the researcher’s first subject, appears to be on track with all of Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages, within his age range. For instance, “In Erickson’s first stage, which is by far the most important, infants should develop a sense of basic trust (2009).” In Aidan’s case, this stage was successfully completed due to him being on a set schedule and being surrounded by warmth, care, consistency, and discipline. Though he faced a multitude of health problems during this phase of his development, the love and warmth that was bestowed upon him enabled him to successfully complete Erik Erikson’s first stage. Erikson’s second Psychosocial stage, Autonomy versus shame and doubt, “takes place during early childhood and is focused on children developing a greater sense of personal control (http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm)”. Important events associated with this stage of Psychosocial Development include gaining more control over food choices, children wanting to dress themselves and choose their own clothing, toilet training, and control of one’s body functions. Aidan was very insistent about doing these things during this phase of his development. Interestingly enough, he displayed some of these behaviors during Erickson’s first stage of Psychosocial Development. For example, Aidan was potty trained by the time he was 18 months old, chose his own clothes, and began trying to dress himself. This brings us to Erikson’s third stage of Psychosocial Development, Initiative versus Guilt. This phase takes place during the preschool/nursery school years and is marked by “children beginning to assert their power and control over the world by directing play and other social interaction (http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial_2.htm).” Manipulation of surroundings are prevalent in this stage of a child’s development, as “they are building on the ability to control themselves, children now acquire some influence over others in the family (2009).” This is the phase of development that Aidan is in currently, and he is definitely an assertive little boy who likes to direct play and “be in charge.” Aidan can be manipulative in certain situations, such as, if mommy says no, he will immediately go ask his granddaddy. Overall, this researcher feels that Aidan has successfully completed all of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial stages thus far.

Now, we will discuss the researcher’s second subject, Samantha. Upon the researcher’s observations, Samantha was unsuccessful in completing the Basic trust versus mistrust phase. This writer believes that this may be due to caregivers who were inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or rejecting. The afore mentioned variables could very well have contributed to feelings of mistrust in Samantha as an infant. With that stated, “Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable (http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial.htm).” Samantha’s mother had her at a very young age and may have been ready to deal with the complete change of life that comes with bringing a child into the world. Because of the unsuccessful completion of this first and most important stage in Samantha’s development, she exhibited signs of inadequacy and self-doubt during the Autonomy versus Shame, Doubt phase, thus meaning that she was unsuccessful in completing the second stage as well. When Samantha reached the third stage of Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development, there seemed to be a marked improvement in her behavior, however she still displayed characteristics of a child who was very hard to deal with. It was at this time that she was enrolled in a stable preschool where she remained until it was time for her to start kindergarten. This researcher believes that this was probably the stability that Samantha was longing for and so desperately needed. Before being enrolled in preschool, it was not uncommon for her to be subjected to her mother’s various relationships, which often were unsuccessful. Since Samantha has never had a “father”, she always became easily attached to these various men. This leads this researcher to believe that this may be an underlying reason for Samantha’s lack of trust and inability to fit in with others. At this point, Samantha has now moved into Erikson’s fourth stage of Psychosocial Theory of Development, Industry & Inferiority. For instance, “Children expand their horizons beyond the family and begin to explore the neighborhood (2009).” In Samantha’s case, she can best be described as a recluse. From the moment she gets home from school, she doesn’t emerge from her room until it is dinnertime. This researcher feels that this is certainly not a healthy environment, as there is no communication between mother and daughter. At times, Samantha seems to be very resentful of her mother. In this researcher’s opinion, Samantha has not successfully completed any of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development thus far.

The writer will now explore Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development. As stated earlier, “Jean Piaget believed that cognitive development means that we form more sophisticated cognitive structures as we pass through four stages: the Sensorimotor, the Preoperational, the Concrete operational, and the Formal operational (2009).” The Sensorimotor stage, which begins at birth and goes to about 2 years of age, is marked by an infant’s ability to use their bodies to form cognitive structures. The researcher’s first subject, Aidan, had various complications that required physical and occupational therapy, as well as neck surgery all before two years of age. Due to these complications, he was somewhat delayed in moving from the Sensorimotor stage to the Preoperational stage. Once he got all of the physical and occupational therapies and neck surgery behind him, he rapidly moved into the Preoperational stage. During this stage, children ages 2 to 7 years, are able to make use of symbols and there is a rapid growth in language. Aidan, being the researcher’s son, was taught sign language from three months of age until he was about 2 years old. The reasoning for this was so that he would be able to communicate with others before he was able to talk, but when the time for rapid growth in language came, Aidan preferred to use sign language over verbalization. After a few talks and much encouragement, Aidan soon began to chatter away.

Samantha, the writer’s second subject, flourished throughout the Sensorimotor stage and Preoperational stage. She was a very active little girl with a great imagination and amazing verbal skills. It is the Concrete operational stage that Samantha struggles with. It is during this stage that accommodation occurs. “Accommodation is Piaget’s term to describe the manner by which cognitive structures change (2009).” Samantha seems to be unable to make rational judgments, which in turn causes her to be very manipulative. This researcher believes that this goes back to a very lax parenting style in which Samantha is treated as more of a burden than the gift that she is.

The final theory to be discussed is Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Learning Theory. Simply stated, Bandura believed that “we obtain information from observing other people, things, and events (2009).” Bandura stresses the importance of modeling in observational learning. In Aidan’s case, he has been surrounded by the positive influence of modeling. He is a polite, however sometimes rambunctious little boy who knows how to use his manners. Children are like sponges, always observing and soaking up everything around them. This can sometimes lead to bad behaviors or socially appropriate behaviors. In Samantha’s case, she is a product of her surroundings. This researcher believes that due to her stressful home life, Samantha only knows to act out in order to get attention. The unfortunate things about this is that the attention she gains from acting out is never the attention she desperately needs.

Childhood obesity is a real and pressing health problem in Australia. Children are spending more time doing sedentary activities such as watching television and playing computer games. These activities don’t involve much physical activity which contributes to the growing childhood obesity dilemma. According to the department of health and ageing- Australia (2007) about one in every five children is now overweight or obese, furthermore, 25% of obese six year olds will become obese adults (Rosenberg, 2005). This paper examines the importance of physical activity, the teacher’s role in addressing and preventing obesity and significant contributions that teachers can offer to help reverse child obesity. The target age group for this paper is 5-10 year olds.

Children become overweight when the energy they take in or consume is greater than the energy they expel through physical activity (Catford & Caterson, 2003). Physical activity for this age group is important because physical fitness is a habit that we learn. Children learn early to choose between sitting indoors and watching television or going outside to play ball. According to Steinback (2001) physical activity builds skills and co-ordination. It can also give personal satisfaction when achieving something new or difficult and it can help children who then become adults meet new friends with similar interests e.g. riding your bicycle in the park or playing on the swings. Exercise also produces endorphins and helps sleep patterns (Salmon, 2005).

Adults teach fitness through example. It is possible to establish healthy lifestyle choices from an early age and lay the foundation for a child’s physical activity patterns. As discussed by Lumeng (2005) there are studies to indicate that if a child as young as three is overweight, they may be on the path to obesity in adulthood.

Due to changes in family dynamics and the social and economic aspects of life, there is added responsibility on educators to provide extra services such as health education; however, teachers can only be effective if they are willing, trained and prepared to undertake such a role. Emmel (2005) suggests that schools have come a long way in the last 5 years in regards to awareness due to added pressure from parents and the community. The teacher’s role in addressing and preventing obesity is important because there are many health related problems for overweight children, including, diabetes, high blood pressure, joint problems, breathing difficulties and even social issues such as bullying and feelings of isolation from not being able to participate in physical activities (Reilly, Methren, McDowell, Hacking, Alexander, Stewart & Kelnar, 2003).

Schools provide the ideal setting for the prevention of obesity due to the number of continual and concentrated access to a large number of individuals at a developmentally appropriate age (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). Schools can provide students with structured play and learning opportunities for promoting healthy lifestyle choices. Teachers spend a large amount of time with students especially in the early years. They are looked up to for guidance and support from the students, therefore, teachers help to shape students attitudes and beliefs. The role of the teacher in addressing childhood obesity is to encourage and provide opportunity for development.

The environment we live in which includes the school environment is the perfect playground for making choices. If our environment shapes our choices then children are perfect targets for food advertisements. Teachers can take advantage of this dominant resource to educate students on good health and physical activity. It is vital that these advertisements promote good food choices, however, there is still a long way to go before junk food advertisements are taken away (Ashton, 2004).

Snacks should be a regular part of a child’s diet. Since young children’s stomachs are still small, they eat small meals. Most children need more than three meals each day. Snacks should be nutritious, not “junk” food. Good snacks include fruit, cheese, juices, popcorn, crackers with peanut butter, fresh carrots or celery, flavoured yogurt, and bread and butter (Child & Youth health, 2010).

Three ways a teacher could assist young children in addressing or preventing obesity include;

Activities for children- involve all children regardless of body weight, so that no one child feels singled out. According to Lumeng (2005) it’s not about being on a diet or restricting food, it is a whole lifestyle change that includes eating healthy food combined with daily physical activity. It may take several attempts before children are comfortable with physical activity. Try organising one afternoon each week before school ends where each child takes a turn to choose their favourite physical activity and everyone has the opportunity to participate. Teachers can use this opportunity to encourage those who are not athletically gifted or have health care issues. They can also follow up on any students they feel need extra support.

Assignments on good nutrition and physical activities – cut out pictures in magazines of healthy food and exercise. Encouraging children and leading by example is a powerful tool. Teachers can involve parents as well so that children learn which foods to eat or how much exercise to engage in. Display the cut outs on posters designed to encourage good food choices. If children look at them long enough they may start to identify these items and choose them over chocolate or chips (Emmel, 2005). Above all activities need to be fun and stimulating.

Implementing a quality schools meal program- this includes an overhaul of the schools canteen and what parents put in lunch boxes. Only making healthy food available during school hours will encourage students to make better choices. Adopting marketing techniques to promote healthy choices is a good way to get students excited about food. This can also extend to fundraising campaigns and vending machines on school grounds. Foods defined as having minimal nutritional value such as sugary lollies, salty chips and soft drinks should be eliminated from the menu (Rosenberg, 2005).

In conclusion, there is growing recognition of the need to establish positive attitudes to healthy lifestyle practices from an early age if obesity is to be reversed later on. Without a strong contribution from schools children can grow up to have body image and weight control issues. Children need to exercise to improve endurance, strength, flexibility and social skills focussing on self-improvement rather than on comparison to others. The teacher’s role is a preventive one which is designed to improve the lives of young people through physical activity and healthy eating to reduce the obesity pandemic of the students of today and in the future.