Child Labour
CHILD LABOUR, a menace in India.
The phrase – 'Today's children are the citizens of tomorrow' – has fallen between the cracks, given the prevailing child labour across the country. Children are made to work as slaves in factories, fields, and are also self-employed as, milkman, rag-pickers, shoe-polisher and rickshaw pullers.
The Global Child Labor Index 2012, prepared by Maplecroft, ranks India 27th on the list of countries where children are at risk of being victim to child labour. “I give all the money I earn to my mom. If I give the money to my dad, he will spend it on alcohol,” says Priya, who sells candies at Besant Nagar beach in Eastern Chennai. Priya, who goes to a government school in Adyar, works as a candy-seller after school because her family is facing acute financial crisis. “I want to be in the army when I grow up,” she adds in a cheerful tone. There are many other girls like Priya who fall prey to menial jobs and are deprived of a proper childhood. Throughout the American history, forms of child labor have existed, like apprenticed servitude and child slavery. In the 19th century Britain faced the wrath of industrialization, the labourers were forced to work in factories, children were often preferred, as they were more cheaper, and manageable and less likely to strike. However, growing opposition to child labor in the North resulted in many factories to move to the South. By 1900, there were a few anti-child labour laws but the states varied considerably on their content and degree of enforcement. Many American children worked in, glass factories, mines, textiles, home industries, and as newsboys, messengers, bootblacks, peddlers etc. Child Labour then was unchecked and unbounded.
History of child labour is well versed in some of the poems scripted in the turbulent 19th century. "The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake, is a poem published in Songs of Innocence in 1789, wherein the poet talks about the harsh nature of child
The phrase – 'Today's children are the citizens of tomorrow' – has fallen between the cracks, given the prevailing child labour across the country. Children are made to work as slaves in factories, fields, and are also self-employed as, milkman, rag-pickers, shoe-polisher and rickshaw pullers.
The Global Child Labor Index 2012, prepared by Maplecroft, ranks India 27th on the list of countries where children are at risk of being victim to child labour. “I give all the money I earn to my mom. If I give the money to my dad, he will spend it on alcohol,” says Priya, who sells candies at Besant Nagar beach in Eastern Chennai. Priya, who goes to a government school in Adyar, works as a candy-seller after school because her family is facing acute financial crisis. “I want to be in the army when I grow up,” she adds in a cheerful tone. There are many other girls like Priya who fall prey to menial jobs and are deprived of a proper childhood. Throughout the American history, forms of child labor have existed, like apprenticed servitude and child slavery. In the 19th century Britain faced the wrath of industrialization, the labourers were forced to work in factories, children were often preferred, as they were more cheaper, and manageable and less likely to strike. However, growing opposition to child labor in the North resulted in many factories to move to the South. By 1900, there were a few anti-child labour laws but the states varied considerably on their content and degree of enforcement. Many American children worked in, glass factories, mines, textiles, home industries, and as newsboys, messengers, bootblacks, peddlers etc. Child Labour then was unchecked and unbounded.
History of child labour is well versed in some of the poems scripted in the turbulent 19th century. "The Chimney Sweeper" by William Blake, is a poem published in Songs of Innocence in 1789, wherein the poet talks about the harsh nature of child