Child Labor: A Controversial Issue in the US - Essay Sample

Introduction

Child labor continues to be a big controversial topic in the United States of America. Even though it is not that adverse compared to centuries before, it has a significant impact on millions of kids in the nation and globally. Historically, kids of America have been part of the workforce, particularly since the onset of industrialization (Ramchandani, 2018). There are several instances whereby youths have been forced into slavery in the labor sector. That is because employers perceived them as sustainable, manageable, and cheap sources of labor (Nogler & Pertile, 2016). Nowadays, as discussed in this essay, child labor is viewed as a social injustice because of its detrimental impacts on the child's psychological and personal life where the type of tasks given to the kid raises the rate of these effects irrespective of the solution.

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The Impact of Child Labor on America's Youth and Society

In today's America, kids continue working in various industries, and with the growing capitalism and industrial production, child labor becomes a social problem. It is the 21st century, and despite child labor being illegal in some states, the rate of kids working under harsh conditions appears to be a formality. This practice is dangerous in certain instances as young lives are lost in logging, manufacturing, transportation, retail, construction, and especially agriculture jobs, where 52% of the young laborers die (Andrew, 2018).

Regulation and Oversight: Child Labor Laws in the 21st Century

In the majority of the industries in America, there is high regulation of child labor. Kids have to be at least 14 to 16 years old to be employed, depending on the sector and with principles stipulating what they ought to and not to do (Ramchandani, 2018). The law incorporates protection for child laborers, even though there is a difference in oversight. Certain regions might be stricter. Although for once since 2012, 2016 recorded progress in studies of working kids and the rates of exploitation. The majority of the mistreatments were recognized in hospitality and leisure, a big industry that incorporates performing arts, recreation, and restaurants (Andrew, 2016).

The standard labor laws exempt' small ranches, implying they are permitted to employ kids of any age - an exemption that most domestic farms depend on to make their businesses running (Johnson, 2017). For larger farms, kids permitted by their parents might be hired from 12-year-olds, and engage in risky tasks as early as 16 years old (Andrew, 2018).

The Dark Side of Agriculture: Child Labor in Farms and Its Consequences

Lacking laws for child labor in the agricultural sector merge with the deficiency of safeguards for laborers more commonly: In the federal law, farm laborers lack the advantage of a collective legal bargain and hardly get incentives and benefits.

Even though the Labor Department in individual states permits youths aged 16 and 17 to fall in the employment sector, it shields them from perilous duties including handling of radioactive materials, roofing a house, operating lathes, or coal mining (Johnson, 2017). Fourteen and fifteen-year-olds can labor for partial hours in less bad sectors, including food service, and office duties (Maya Jariego, 2017) while the 13-year-olds and younger have the permission of working in a few regulated vocations with exceptions. Remarkably, they could work as babysitters, actors in movies, and newspaper vendors.

On the downside, among the significant consequence is that working kids might undergo physical injury in several ways. These include a higher possibility of accidents since teenagers often work in unregulated environments, whereby safety standards are enforced minimally (Kaufka Walts, 2017).

Even though child labor laws are adequately imposed in America, several kids, particularly Hispanics, continue working in farms (Maya Jariego, 2017). During the harvest season, they are subjected to 12 hours of work daily, forcing them to drop out of school (Ramchandani, 2018). While in the farms, these children are exposed to agrochemicals, including pesticides that could lead to adverse health complications. Working kids frequently experience savagery in the working environment from grown-up staff and directors.

According to the Government Accountability Office, approximately 452 youngsters lost their lives due to work injuries between 2003 and 2016; of these, 73 of those who passed were below 12 years old (Andrew, 2018). The youths working in the boulevards are additionally in danger of physical assault from cops and other top authority persons. The danger of ailments from being exposed to adverse climatic conditions and poor hygiene is similarly seen.

Physical and Emotional Toll: The Detrimental Effects of Child Labor

Child labor could similarly be emotionally and developmentally harmful. Kid laborers are defenseless than grown-up laborers, leaving them in danger for misuse, hazardous and oppressive conditions (Burman, 2016). In this way, child labor damages a country's minimum age acts, implicates terrible maltreatment - including unlawful exercises, forced labor, debt bondage, child trafficking, or child slavery -keeps kids from attending school, and exploits kids to weaken work ethics (Nogler & Pertile, 2016).

Although it gives kids and families a source of living, and perhaps something to gain from, kids ought not to face subjugation or forceful labor since it is risky and could harm a kid's future. Having teenagers as laborers is quite hazardous.

In addition to the fact that children get diseases while working, numerous kids get into drug abuse and addiction (Nogler & Pertile, 2016). Teenagers get dependent on drugs since they either are constrained or feel that it will make their lives simpler. In particular perspectives, this could be true because their lives are terrible; they need to end it by drowning in hard drugs (Nogler & Pertile, 2016).

Organizations, therefore, need to quit employing children and begin to employ more grown-ups. Youngsters in America ought to be in school learning and spend their evenings at home revising what they learned. Through this, kids find the opportunity to be progressively fruitful and apply their knowledge in a manner to land them lucrative careers, so they do not need to wind up in the unforgiving states of most manufacturing plants.

Adults might require more significant salary compensation; however, organizations could without much of a stretch raise their pays marginally regardless of whether that incorporates rising their costs a bit. The primary explanation as to why adults ought to receive higher wages is because they have families looking up to them for sustenance. Child labor ought to be put to an end; this is going to take quite a while, including guidelines from the administration and implications for organizations that fail to adhere.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is believed that kids are the best blessing to humanity and that adolescence is a significant phase of human improvement as it holds the possibility of the eventual fate of any society. At the point when kids perform work errands at a young age, they lessen their current or imminent income abilities.

Child labor is not, by any chance, a novel phenomenon; it has been in existence for a considerable length of time and has become a societal concern. There is a large number of teenagers risking their lives through harmful conditions and negligence by several industries, and improved guidelines ought to be set to prevent this from occurring. Working kids of America are facing exploitation and injuries at the workplace as accidents go unreported.

By managing child labor laws, the American government would have the option of enforcing more secure working environments, raise remunerations to meet the typical cost for essential items. Besides, make it mandatory for every kid to receive education for better opportunities even though the rival side debates these reasons and positions. Above all else, child labor acts ought to be structured to secure working conditions. The wellbeing and future of America's children are deteriorating due to terrible working conditions and guidelines in the nation that do not protect teenagers.

References

Andrew, V. (2018). 452 Children Died On the Job in the U.S. between 2003 and 2016. The Washington Post. Retrieved 28 March 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/20/child-labor-deaths-us-twenty-first-century/

Burman, E. (2016). Deconstructing developmental psychology. Taylor & Francis.

Johnson, M. P. (2017). Cultivating Injustice in the Richest Fields: How U.S. Labor Law Leaves Migrant Child Workers Unprotected on the American Farm. Drake J. Agric. L., 22, 359. https://aglawjournal.wp.drake.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/66/2019/10/180402-Johnson-Final-Macro-Reprinted.pdf

Kaufka Walts, K. (2017). Child labor trafficking in the United States: A hidden crime. Social Inclusion (ISSN: 2183-2803), 5(2), 59-68. DOI: 10.17645/si.v5i2.914

Maya Jariego, I. (2017). "But we want to work:" The movement of child workers in Peru and the actions for reducing child labor. American Journal of Community Psychology, 60(3-4), 430-438. Doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12180

Nogler, L., & Pertile, M. (2016). Child labor in a globalized world: A legal analysis of ILO action. Routledge.

Ramchandani, A. (2018). The Overlooked Children Working America's Tobacco Fields. The Atlantic. Retrieved 28 March 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/child-labor-tobacco/562964/