Child labor as a critical universal issue

Ethics is offshoot of philosophy which seeks to find answer about the manner concepts like bad, good, evil, right, wrong, nice, ugly, and beautiful, etc. but if we want to defined specifically business ethics we can say that it’s a set of believes which a company follows. There are ethical practices that we do which means that driven by trust, honest and with the reasoning which is above revenue. As a matter of facts, ethical practices can abstract the business revenues but it is agreed upon that the ethical practices are productive for every business. Correspondingly there are wide ranges of ethical issues in business, such as misleading advertising, discrimination in the workplace, unsafe working conditions, whistleblowing or social media rants, accounting practices and the last thing is child labor and this is the unethical case that I will talk about. Child labor a critical universal issue that going viral in industrial third world countries.

Causes of child labor

First of all, let’s acquaint child labor; it’s mostly full time job of children under the age 13 in situations that is very deleterious for their health, schooling, or moral development for pay or sometimes no pay, this problem has become source of an ever-rising anxiety among many nations. Children work for an assortment of reasons the most important being poorness and the induced pressure upon them to escape from this situation.

There are certain causes of child labor in these countries for example:

1. Lack of decent jobs for adults.
2. Large families require a variety of incomes to feed their members.
3. Agricultural jobs pay by the amount of produce picked. This encourages families to bring more children into the field to help collect farmed goods.
4. It is cheaper to pay small children because they are less likely to complain than adults.
5. Many families around the world are unfamiliar with the rights of their children and deem it acceptable to send children to work.
6. Families think that school won’t help their children survive.

Effect of child labor

On the other side, this case it is truly harmful it is work that mentally or physically hazardous. The wellbeing and health of child labors is in danger and they can wind up being caught in a cycle of neediness. There are many ways that child labor can affect children, and this suffering and danger is different relying on which manufacture that they are working in. this situation that they are facing now will put them in long-term health problems like; lack of proper nutrition, exposition to chemical, perversion, damaged, attrition and toxic. In addition there are many more examples for instance:

1. In cultivation: children may be exposed to poisonous repelled and fertilizers, they work with risky materials and tools and also they carry heavy cargo.
2. In mining: these children may use a toxic chemicals, also the risk of any downfall from heavy loads, and sometimes works with bombs.
3. In construction: usually when adults works in build they wear safety hats and they already physically strong so its acceptable to carry heavy tools on the other side children they have weak body so it’s hard for them to carry heavy loads, also they don’t know about safety equipment and its very risky for them to use the construction machines.
4. In industrializing: children may use poisonous solvents, perform the same thing every day it’s really painful for their small bodies, and maybe they will face hazard damage from sharp tools.
5. In household work: children may work with families they have no mercy they will requires them to work long hours. Usually children they get abuse from those families, and when work domestic work they never see their family and friends that’s may affect their psychological state.

Products produced by child labor

UNICEF estimates that around 150 million children aged 5-14 in developing countries, about 16 per cent of all children in this age group, are involved in child labor. However after this awful hard work that they forced to do, they produce goods that everyone may use or wear or even eat without even knowing that. This table will illustrate some of the product, in which country it comes from, and the type of exploitation they were forced to do:

More importantly is the solution to prevent or stop child labor, firstly take the law for example it should make this case illegal for the children to work until they reach certain age so its easy for them to work, for example the age of 18 as a teenagers, and they should not allow to work beyond certain hours, also it is important to pay wages for them. The law should provide a set of prerogatives for those who want to challenge child labor, and the government should officially support them. Secondly; reduce penury: it is the main reason for begin child labor. When family lives in poorness they end up sending everyone in the family to work including their kids even if the wages are very low, and this case may exacerbated if the parents or one of them is absent maybe because of the sickness or the death. Reducing poorness is important to prevent parents from sending their kids to work. Thirdly; if we sponsor a child in a developing country they can support themselves and get an education. Finally; Be alert, and ready to act: stay awake all the time and look around you if you see an example for child labor in any company directly report them don’t be afraid because so many people shut their eyes to issue of child labor and that cause a serious consequences for the child.

Conclusion

To sum up, child labor is prime problem. Many children have lost their health because of it. Many children got in danger because of it. Many children pulled away from their families and friends because of it. Fortunately nowadays so many charitable organization that helps the child in developing countries for example ILO (international labor organization), UNICEF and also here in United Arab Emirates they provide a lot of help to those children like Dubai Foundation For Women and Children, also there is hotline which is 800700 that is ready 24 hours responding all calls from children till the age 18. With the development of human right, child labor should be blocked in every society. We must all work to prevent child labor, starting from this instant.