Drudgery And Dreams

SPEAKING PERSONALLY

PHILIPPINES

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Becoming aware of how the world's children live

Two senior students at Quezon City’s Miriam College take a personal look at how other young people live – and defend every child’s right to a better tomorrow.
Child labor is a social problem that is associated with the rise of capitalism and industrial production. It was one of the biggest outrages during the 19th century as countries began to be industrialized. The problem occurred when children were forced to work long hours for the minimum wage and under dangerous conditions.

Children exploited

Child labor is not necessarily bad if it allows the child to be educated in schools. Moreover, work is considered legal if the condition underlying it is not detrimental to the child. We can say that household chores or a child helping in the family business is not perceived as child labor, but the moment the child is exploited, one way or the other, it is considered illegal.

However, in point of fact, we rarely find children working under safe conditions, and neither do they have time to go to school. This is when child labor begins to be a problem.

Another factor that makes child labor an issue that should be dealt with as soon as possible is that child labor is accompanied by high child death rates, low life expectancy, and poverty - these things do not contribute to an economically healthy society.

Developing countries?

The International Labor Organization estimates that there are about 100-200 million children whose labor is being exploited throughout the world. Over 95% of these children are found in developing countries. Asia has over 50% of the world’s child laborers - in small-scale agriculture as well as factories.

Africa has the largest percentage of its children working (one out of every three). Here, children work in the “informal sector” as servants and vendors, and on commercial plantations. In Latin America, 15-20% of children work. The work is mostly in small mining operations, in small tunnels where adults cannot fit in.

The majority of these children work for small industries, like family-based agriculture, and small-scale manufacturing like carpets and garments. It is much harder for the government to detect such industries and to determine their work area.

What future?

There are many factors that contribute to the prevalence of child labor. First, children are forced to work because economically disadvantaged: they work because their circumstances force them to – if they did not, their family would starve. For entrepreneurs, low labor costs beget higher profits.

Yet we must never lose sight of the fact that these children are at a stage when they should be enjoying freedom, protection, and security. If we believe that children are the future, then child labor does nothing but obliterate the future.

Heather Jo Abanales

A Dream

Ever since I was a kid, I have always dreamed of living in a big house, having plenty of food to eat, and having lots of clothes and a good school to go to. Basically, I have dreamed of living a very comfortable life for myself and for my family. But just like any other fairytale, not all dreams do come true. I have come to realize that even if I did not get exactly what I wanted, God has given me things that would somehow fulfil that dream.

After realizing this, something crossed my mind. If I have always dreamed of living a life just like a princess, maybe other kids like me have also dreamed the same thing but were never given the chance to experience it. Why? Because poverty has taken away the opportunity for them to fulfil this dream and, sad to say, our government is really having a hard time addressing this problem.

Wanting to help

In most of the newspaper that I read and TV programs I watch I encounter families living in what we call “squatter areas”, and this has made me wonder how they survive such a situation. For them, it was not their choice to be living in a place like that, but it was a reality that they have had to learn to accept.

Sometimes, I do not know what to feel when I see them in that kind of condition. Part of me wants to blame them because they are not doing anything to help themselves to alleviate their status in life. But then again another part of me wants to help them because I cannot bear to see those kids being subjected to that kind of life.

Not now…but soon

If only our government will give their full attention to this problem, then none of these people would have to suffer that kind of situation. Giving more job opportunities for the parents of these kids can be one of the solutions to this problem; more schools could be built for the children; they could be given a better site in which they could build their homes.

I know that our government is trying its best to do something about it but they must immediately find a solution to stop the growing number of Filipino families that is below our poverty line or else these kids will never have a bright future ahead of them. It is our duty to help them fulfill their dreams and make them see that all things happen in the right time, maybe not now… but soon.<WM

Pamela Sonia B. Rivera