Child Labor Laws - Essay Example

Law II/ Child Labor Laws Child labor may be defined as work that may lead to harm on children and may as well cause them not to attend school. In most areas of the world, the growing gap between the poor and the rich in the recent decades have led to many young children dropping out of school for them to work. It is estimated, according to international labor organization that more than two hundred and fifty million children who are between the ages of five and seventeen are working under poor conditions. These conditions are describes as being hardazious and really explosive (Cigno, 2005). This is considered as being illegal by the law. Under aged children have been exposed to all kinds of jobs because their families are not well up and may be below the poverty level. For a condition to be considered as child labor, it has to have some characteristics that the law does not permit. Such characteristics include conditions that violate the minimum age law, conditions that threaten the mental, emotional or physical well being of children, conditions that abuse and that are intolerable such as slavery, preventing children from attending school as well as conditions that use children in undermining the standards of labor. The child labor laws are enacted by the government. They restrict children from going through different types of torture based on when they can work and the different types of jobs they are allowed to do. The main purpose of the laws of child labor is to ensure that children are safeguarded and prevented from going thorough any form of harm. These harms include immoral conditions, the exposure to bad hazards and being overworked. These laws ensure that children are not faced with any kind of harm. Any person found violating these laws faces legal actions in the law courts. The legislation of child labor laws mainly applies to work places and business enterprises. It is not limited to this and in some states the nonprofit activities are also under the children laws. The child labor laws may vary from one state to the other. The laws governing states vary. This helps to prohibit and restrict employment on underage children effectively. These laws mostly vary in the states where agricultural or seasonal employment is high. Though this is the case, state laws are preempted by federal laws. This means that all the state laws should meet the terms of all the federal minimum requirements. Some specific provisions in the labor laws are used in governing the age that children may be permitted to work. These laws help is defining the specific areas that children over certain ages may work. The conditions for such jobs must be met according to the laws that govern child labor. These children may work as long as their parents permit them. Such work does not require a lot of time and they are as well not so demanding. These children may work for very few hours during their free time such as weekends and during public holidays. Not all states permit this but it is permitted in some of the states (Shrivastav, 2006). There are a number of activities that are considered to violate the children labor laws. All the forms of slavery and anything considered to be similar to slavery are considered to be against the laws of child labor. Slavery may take different forms. The trafficking and sale of children may be one of them. This is when children are considered as commodities in their own countries. These children may be sold to go and work for the benefit of their guardians. Once they are trafficked, they are forced to work in different areas for the benefit of their guardians. Child labor may as well take the form of forced labor. This is a situation where children are forced to perform different tasks against their will. They are forced to do this so as to be paid back. In most cases, this money is not given to them but to their guardians. Their guardians use them to get money for different purposes (Cigno, 2005). This act is illegal and against the child labor act. Recruiting children into any armed conflict is also a form of child labor. Some people use children in armed conflicts. They force children to join different groups of forces. The children labor laws do not permit this and is against the constitution. Another example of child labor is the act of offering children to do prostitution or to get involved in the production of any kind of pornographic material (Shrivastav, 2006). Some people may use their children to perform in the unlawful act of prostitution against their will. Some of them expose their children to get involved in the production of different kinds of pornographic materials against their will. This is considered to be a form of child labor since it is done against the will of the child. Legal action is taken to such people if found engaging minor in such acts. The act of offering or procuring of children to perform illicit activities is also a form of child labor. These illicit activities may include trafficking and production of different kinds of drugs. Some people use children in the act of trafficking as well as production of different kinds of drugs. Most of these people do this so as to escape the arm of the law. This is because law enforcers are not likely to consider a child as performing this task and their chances of getting identified are minimal. They use children to either sell of deliver these drugs to different areas. This is against the laws that protect children against any type of labor. Any type of work that is considered to be harmful to the moral, safety of health of a child is considered, by law, as child labor. Work that put the life of a child in danger is harmful to the child morals as well as his safety. Examples of such work include drug trafficking and letting children get involved in armed conflicts. Labor that may jeopardize the moral, mental or physical well being of any child, either by nature or by the conditions that the work is carried out may be called hazardous work which is against the law. Measures should be taken so as to stop child labor. This is because many children are suffering and being used for the wrong purposes. Some have to stop attending school so as to work and provide for their families. Different people have been trying to stop this and have been successful to some extent but more should still be done. The government has played a role in stopping child labor in a number of ways. The government place laws that could govern the age at which children are permitted to begin working. This has helped in making people shy off from performing any act that is against the laws set. Any person caught going against the laws is tried in a court of law. They could either get huge amounts of fines or serve some time in prison. The law enforcers have been put in place so as to ensure that these rules have strictly been followed. There are a lot of international organizations, public departments, organizations and institutions that have been put in place to ensure that children’s rights have been protected. An example of such institutions includes the UNICEF that mainly deals with the prevention of child labor. This institutions help in ensuring that different children from all over the world that face child labor have been rescued. They provide rescue centers where children may report their cases as well as those people who notice such acts. The institutions act as refuge places until when the child is free from danger. The international labor organization also helps in preventing children from facing different kinds of harassments. This organization began its operations in the year 1992. It has been active in achieving its goals in a number of ways. The organization has put in place county based programs that are used in promoting policy reforms as well as placing different kinds of measures which may help in preventing child labor (Haspels, 2000). This organization has been successful in mobilizing people to effective implement the policies that govern the laws. It has also aided in making people aware of these laws and the actions they should take incase they witness such behavior. It is good for these organizations to come together. The government should also work together with the organizations in fighting child labor. Organization working as different entities may not be effective compared to working as one unit. This should not be considered as a business opportunity whose main aim is to get customers. These are charity organizations and they should come together so that they may be more effective. This may help reduce the rate of child labor at a faster rate and may aid in saving a lot of children from the different types of harms. The government should as well come together with the organization so that they may be more effective. Childhood is a time that is very critical for a healthy and safe development. Since children are still in the process of growing, they do have special needs and characteristics, in terms of cognitive, physical and behavioral growth and development, which should be taken into consideration. Those children who are exposed to work at an early stage face a number of risks. They are faced with high risks of getting illnesses, injuries or even death because of the wide variety of different machines, chemical, ergonomic, biological, psychological and welfare hazards (Haspels, 2000). They may also be faced with long working hours and living conditions that are not healthy. Some working conditions are normally harsh for the adults and may cause harm to them. If these same conditions are exposed to children, the harm caused to them may be more serious. For instance, physical strain that is combined with a lot of movements may lead to different types of effects on the children bones. This affects their natural and healthy growing processes. They may as well face psychological damage and this may affect their future in a negative way. When children are not allowed to enjoy their rights such as the right to education, they may have to face adult life that is not successful since they may not get jobs that are decent. This leads to the poverty level of a country to increase. People should do their best to ensure that no child faces such harassments in their presence. The child labor laws should be followed strictly so as to ensure the success of bright future for children. References Cigno, A., & Rosati, F. C. (2005). The economics of child labour. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Shrivastav, M. P. (2006). Child labour laws in India: A commentary on the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 alongwith Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules, 1988 and U.P. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules, 1994 alongwith relevant notifications and important judicial pronouncements. Allahabad: Law Pub. House. Haspels, N., Jankanish, M., & International Labour Office. (2000). Action against child labour. Geneva: International Labour Office. Read More