Persuasive Essay About Child Labor

Imagine a child, a ten year old girl, working long hours at a sewing machine. She is covered in dirt and grime, and cringes whenever somebody walks by. Soon, two large men come up and grab her back, pulling her own body over her head like a jacket, transforming the child into a sweatshirt and then laying her down with other identical sweatshirts which echo with the laughter of other children. A haunting video on globalmarch.org shows that to our very eyes through cinematography. It strikes a chord in the hearts of many. Who like to be wearing the life of a little girl? This is the dark reality of many children’s lives.
Child labor, the exploiting of children for profit, is far more prominent in the world than the average person realizes. According to stopchildlabor.org, 168 million children are pressed into labor under physical or financial threat; these children are forced to work to support their families or pay off a debt. They can be as young as five years old, the age of a kindergartner, and work up to eighteen hours a day for seven days a week. They are exposed to dangerous situations such as working with complicated equipment in need of repair, or with toxic substances such as nicotine. It negatively impacts their lives in more than just depriving them of their childhood; they sustain long term injuries, respiratory issues,
Child labor is also here in the United States, although slightly less prevalent than in third world countries. It usually takes the form of children working in their family business or in less developed areas of the country. It also usually takes place in the agricultural industry, where the laws are slightly less strict and more difficult to enforce due to the abundance of private land that requires a search warrant to examine. In some cases, the laws in the United States are effective, and in others, they can be harmful to the business and family