1. Assembly on the worst forms of child labour
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that around 179
million children work in the worst forms of child labour*. A good way to
raise awareness of this problem is through a school assembly. Below is the
background information and case studies for three examples of the worst
forms of child labour. Students can use this information to create a short
presentation on one of the examples for an assembly. For more information on
what you can do, visit the
campaigns page
General directions
For each topic, assign students a character from the case study to play. For
the presentation on child domestic workers, for example, characters could
include Patience, Mimi, Jiji and Mimi's parents. You can also add new
characters, such as Mimi's teacher, Patience's parents, Mimi's baby sister
or a social worker. There should also be a narrator or narrators who are
responsible for giving some background information at the beginning, guiding
the story along and, finally, presenting a conclusion at the end.
(a) Child domestic work
Background information
Child domestic work is one of the most common forms of child labour. It is
also the most 'invisible'. Many domestic workers are as young as seven or
eight years old and are already working day and night. Sometimes they are
not allowed to leave the house, they are made to sleep on the floor and
given only the leftovers to eat. Child domestic workers do a range of jobs
around the house for the family they live with -- cleaning and cooking,
serving lunch and tea, and helping to look after young children. Many
employers feel they are doing the child a favour, providing work for someone
from a poor family, even helping to make a situation better. But many also
abuse the children and treat them very differently from their own children.
Case study
Patience is 12 and lives in Togo, West Africa. Her employer's daughter Mimi
is the same age, yet their lives could not be more different. Mimi goes to
school, speaks fluent French as well as her own language and wants to be a
doctor when she grows up. While Mimi and her older brother Jiji are at
school, Patience is in the kitchen preparing their lunch.
Patience serves them their lunch and watches them eat. Then she eats her
lunch on her own. She has worked in this house for two years. She has lost
all contact with her family and any chance of a better life. She believes
she deserves nothing more.
(b) Agricultural work
Background information
More children work in agriculture than in any other type of work, but it is
often not seen as a problem because children are working with their families
and learning new skills. But fieldwork is hard and often dangerous for
children. Whole families work on large estates or plantations for very
little or no money. Often children have to spray poisonous chemicals to
protect their employers' crops from insects and disease. They don't wear
protective clothing and this severely affects their health. Children often
don't go to school because their parents cannot afford to send them or
because the nearest school is too far away. Many families live in crowded
housing with no access to medical care.
Case study
Fatima is a young jasmine picker in Egypt. She picks flowers at night when
the scent is at its strongest. The flowers are then sold and made into
expensive perfume.
(You can download a
text version of this table).
| Fatima: |
"We have to work, we have no choice but to work. We have
to help our parents out and to make ends meet. It's hard, it's tiring,
but our families are poor. We have to bring some money home."
|
Male overseer:
|
"Enough talk." |
| Fatima: |
"We just have to accept the mistreatment."
|
Male overseer:
|
"Shut up and work." |
| Fatima: |
"This is the only way we can improve our living
standards, and help our parents pay for our studies so we can get a
better education." |
(c) Child soldiers
Background information
According to the United Nations, there are about 300,000 child soldiers
between the ages of five and 17 around the world. Not all child soldiers are
recruited to fight. Some of the other extremely dangerous and life
threatening jobs include mine detecting, acting as bodyguards, and spying or
carrying messages, ammunition or food. Children are viewed as good soldier
material because they are less likely than adults to question orders and
authority, their immaturity causes them to take extreme risks, they are
easier to control and they make fearless fighters. However, the experience
of being tortured, humiliated or killing other human beings has a number of
severe consequences on the children involved in warfare. Some become
suicidal; others live with constant fear or anger towards anyone in the role
of authority such as parents, police, teachers or employers.
Case Study
Emilio was a child soldier in Guatemala, Central America. He was recruited
by the Guatemalan army at the age of 14: "The army was a nightmare. We
suffered greatly from the cruel treatment we received. We were constantly
beaten, mostly for no reason at all, just to keep us in a state of terror. I
still have a scar on my lip and sharp pains in my stomach from being
brutally kicked by the older soldiers. The food was scarce and they made us
walk with heavy loads, much too heavy for our small and malnourished bodies.
They forced me to learn how to fight the enemy in a war and I didn't
understand why it was being fought."
If you would like more information on taking action against slavery,
please visit the
campaigns page.
*The worst forms of child labour, as defined in the ILO's Convention No.
182 (1999), includes (a) all forms of slavery or similar practices, such as
debt bondage, trafficking and forced or compulsory recruitment of children
for use in armed conflict; (b) the use of children for prostitution and
pornography; (c) the use of children for illicit activities, such as the
production and trafficking of drugs; and (d) all work which is likely to
endanger the health, safety or morals of children (Article 3).
|
