Child labour is ubiquitous, even though it varies in form and degree. A scar on the world’s conscience in the twenty-first century, it is a social evil and a ban against development. Generally, regressive in nature, it is a serious global issue worth paying attention to.Many solutions and remedies are suggested to fight against this baffling problem.
Childhood is the best time of our lives.A time of love and laughter,of being pampered,time of learning and discovering where our own particular strength lies,describing our ambition and becoming passionate for anything.But the present scenario is different. Children,specially living in a developing countries like India face many difficulties.They are exploited and abused.
Most inhuman and arduous form of child exploitation in India is the age old practice of bonded labour.Fear,guilt,anger,frustration,pain,hate and above all helplessness,these assorted and jumbled feelings numbed their existence.Devastated and shattered they suffered those nightmares alone.Our blooming flowers spreading the fragrance of love,affection and innocence are brutally crushed and blow like dry leaves.All these kinds of exploitation leave scars on the soul of the child which they carry throughout their life. Yes,in India,almost every second child unfortunately goes through this trauma.
According to wikipedia definition,”Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour”.People have many misconceptions regarding it.A child who delivers newspapers before school,helping in the family business and earning pocket money outside the school hours will become a productive member of society.Children working for betterment of their family or the ones who are earning should not be confused with the ones who are being exploited. Actually these children help support their families,doing labour or working in homes or hazardous industries.But if they constantly battle the storms of hunger and disease ,are denied of basic education
and health care or if they face an unrelenting struggle to lead a life of dignity then the issue must not be taken for granted.It should be treated seriously because this become the root cause of a disease called 'Child Labour' which is spreading like a forest fire in many developing countries.
Causes of an immense increase in Child Labour:
Poverty:Children belonging to poor families are compelled to work to earn their livelihood.This compulsion force them to fall into the never ending
black hole of agony and suffering. It forces to take the low remuneration work which results into many social evils.
Families living below poverty line have a huge contribution in increasing the graph of this baffling problem at an immense rate.
Ignorance of the intrinsic value of education.Due of lack of education,girls,they are drawn into prostitution.On the other hand,boys get indulged into pick-pocketing and many others ingenuous tasks.In urban cities children are mostly working in the canteens and restaurants or engaged as domestic servants,picking rags and hawkery goods.Statistics show some 8.5 million children are engaged in unconditional forms of child labour and child abuse issues.
Family size also plays a major role in this issue.A family with more than 2-3 children are more prone to this kind of issues.Immoral employers make full use of it and exploit children without any mercy.Children are found to be better producers of certain products such as knotted carpets and other such kinds of goods. Hence, these children are hired and exploited to work and produce such types of goods. This is known as “NIMBLE FINGER THEORY”.
In domestic matters, children can be made to work easily and at the low wage. Moreover, the masters can dominate them easily. Thus, the number of children working in households constitutes the major part of child labour.
Solutions And Remedies:
The best way to find solution to this immensely increasing problem is to spread awareness,educate children and their parents as well.Emphasis should also be on education programs for adults,especially women.
Increase adult wages so there is less need for children to work.Probably,this may
help children to get a better chance to live and cherish their childhood days.Decreasing the working hours may also help them to contribute their more time in studies and other fun activities.
The working conditions should be improved.Health and safety of children should be ensured.Hazardous and exploitative work such as bonded labour,child sex abuse,child prostitution,military conscription,mining and work that exposes children to toxic substances or extreme temperature conditions should be banned by law and people breaking this law should strictly be punished.
Our former president of India and a well known scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Azad said, “All of us should feel proud on all literate, intellectuals, entrepreneurs and affluent citizens of the country but it should not be forgotten that such categories of persons are almost surrounded from all corners by large number of people who are poor, illiterate and malnutrition. They make our life comfortable and worth living by hard work of day and night and it may be dangerous to neglect them ….”Stop neglecting them. Instead of employing children as a domestic help,try employing their parents,suggest people to send their children to school.Don't buy products from manufacturers who employ child labour.
Children truly are God's precious gift to mankind.They are born to live and blossom.All we can do is to communicate,be aware and come out of the self made cocoon,come out of
the shell of ignorance.Live and let others live as it is beautifully remarked by Karl A. Menninger,"what is done to children, they will do to society”.
Our former president of India and a well known scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Azad said, “All of us should feel proud on all literate, intellectuals, entrepreneurs and affluent citizens of the country but it should not be forgotten that such categories of persons are almost surrounded from all corners by large number of people who are poor, illiterate and malnutrition. They make our life comfortable and worth living by hard work of day and night and it may be dangerous to neglect them ….”Stop neglecting them. Instead of employing children as a domestic help,try employing their parents,suggest people to send their children to school.Don't buy products from manufacturers who employ child labour.
Children truly are God's precious gift to mankind.They are born to live and blossom.All we can do is to communicate,be aware and come out of the self made cocoon,come out of
the shell of ignorance.Live and let others live as it is beautifully remarked by Karl A. Menninger,"what is done to children, they will do to society”.
Sayonara!
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