Pro Child Labor Essay Example
US corporations should conduct business with companies employing child labor
Two lines of arguments: 1) Economic Sense for the Corporations, reduces their costs 2) Benefits for the children employed in child labor
I think, given it is an ethics class, we should go with the second line of attack being that child labor has clear benefits for the children employed in child labor in the developing world.
If asked, most people in our society will tell you that they are dead set against the concept of child labor. They look disapprovingly at developing countries where young children perform manual labor for long hours when they should be in school learning. Yes, children should be in school. Yes, they should be out playing with friends and enjoying their childhood.
However, we do not live in a perfect world. Child labor is pervasive for the simple reason that: * Impoverished households who cannot meet their basic needs may depend on the income of their children for survival. In many cases, these families are so poor that every member of their family needs to work. * It is likely that these families cannot afford the cost of education for their children. Even when schooling is ostensibly ‘free’ studies have shown that parents incur other direct costs such as activity fees, uniforms, paper and pens, text books, transport, lunches and others which often result in the exclusion of poor children from school. * Child labor creates a trade-off between labor and education. However, if their choice is either starving or going to school, isn’t survival the obvious choice?
While the majority of NGO’s work towards saving children from labor is seen as commendable, it has the potential to cause more harm than good: * Foreign governments and organizations working toward making it illegal for these children to earn an honest income may in turn, force them down dangerous paths. It is common for homeless children or those without parents or adult
Two lines of arguments: 1) Economic Sense for the Corporations, reduces their costs 2) Benefits for the children employed in child labor
I think, given it is an ethics class, we should go with the second line of attack being that child labor has clear benefits for the children employed in child labor in the developing world.
If asked, most people in our society will tell you that they are dead set against the concept of child labor. They look disapprovingly at developing countries where young children perform manual labor for long hours when they should be in school learning. Yes, children should be in school. Yes, they should be out playing with friends and enjoying their childhood.
However, we do not live in a perfect world. Child labor is pervasive for the simple reason that: * Impoverished households who cannot meet their basic needs may depend on the income of their children for survival. In many cases, these families are so poor that every member of their family needs to work. * It is likely that these families cannot afford the cost of education for their children. Even when schooling is ostensibly ‘free’ studies have shown that parents incur other direct costs such as activity fees, uniforms, paper and pens, text books, transport, lunches and others which often result in the exclusion of poor children from school. * Child labor creates a trade-off between labor and education. However, if their choice is either starving or going to school, isn’t survival the obvious choice?
While the majority of NGO’s work towards saving children from labor is seen as commendable, it has the potential to cause more harm than good: * Foreign governments and organizations working toward making it illegal for these children to earn an honest income may in turn, force them down dangerous paths. It is common for homeless children or those without parents or adult