Live Free and Starve
Freshman English 1
Hunger For Change Is it possible to be a child laborer and still be happier than being free? What conditions would one have to live in to rather work in an inhumane and unjust situation than be free? As Americans we see child laboring as a huge problem that needs to be stopped. These factories are becoming more and more systematic, with no rights at all given to the children. At what expenses would these children pay if we passed the bill stating, “United States will no longer permit the import of goods from factories where forced or indentured child labor was used”(366), a price more atrocious to pay than the one they are already paying. I feel proud to be from the United States where everything we say, is heard, but we are not always pushing towards the right directions. With a pass of such law we are putting extreme burden on our shoulders, who knows what will happen to these kids when we toss them back on the street. It is definite that something needs to change, someone needs to have a say for the children. Children in other countries are living and working in sweat shops that are in the worst of conditions. Not only are they there to make a small amount of money, but some are there to pay off debts that their parents could not afford. Divakaruni says they “spend their day in dark ill-vented rooms doing work that damages their eyes and lungs”(398). The adolescents working in these factories clearly are not of any consideration, and have absolutely no rights. They are being exploited and used selfishly to help profit the company. Not only do they work in horrid conditions but they are not even allowed to take a bathroom break or stand up to stretch with out a pay cut. This is not right, and something needs to be done to help the kids live a life without filth and fear. Although systematic factories are no place for a child to grow up, neither is the existence they would be facing if they were on the streets. In countries where
Hunger For Change Is it possible to be a child laborer and still be happier than being free? What conditions would one have to live in to rather work in an inhumane and unjust situation than be free? As Americans we see child laboring as a huge problem that needs to be stopped. These factories are becoming more and more systematic, with no rights at all given to the children. At what expenses would these children pay if we passed the bill stating, “United States will no longer permit the import of goods from factories where forced or indentured child labor was used”(366), a price more atrocious to pay than the one they are already paying. I feel proud to be from the United States where everything we say, is heard, but we are not always pushing towards the right directions. With a pass of such law we are putting extreme burden on our shoulders, who knows what will happen to these kids when we toss them back on the street. It is definite that something needs to change, someone needs to have a say for the children. Children in other countries are living and working in sweat shops that are in the worst of conditions. Not only are they there to make a small amount of money, but some are there to pay off debts that their parents could not afford. Divakaruni says they “spend their day in dark ill-vented rooms doing work that damages their eyes and lungs”(398). The adolescents working in these factories clearly are not of any consideration, and have absolutely no rights. They are being exploited and used selfishly to help profit the company. Not only do they work in horrid conditions but they are not even allowed to take a bathroom break or stand up to stretch with out a pay cut. This is not right, and something needs to be done to help the kids live a life without filth and fear. Although systematic factories are no place for a child to grow up, neither is the existence they would be facing if they were on the streets. In countries where