"A Charming View" Response

The blog, “A Charming View,” was based on the topic of child labor. This is one topic that I have had no previous knowledge on. The overall presentation was informative and powerful. The youtube clips that were shown made me realize how lucky I am to be living in a community where poverty, hunger, and child labor are not problems. The statistic that there are 2.2 billion children in the world, and 1 billion are living in poverty was unbelievable to me. I could not wrap my mind around the idea of how many children are suffering. Alyssa’s theme that was based around the presentation was the question of choosing work or hunger. Most children living in third world countries had no choice but to work and try to earn money for their families. These children had to work for 12 hours every day only to get paid less than 2 dollars every hour. Children would either have to give up working and go days without food, or work endless days and make very little money. The problem is a lose-lose scenario. No matter what, these children wake up every morning and fight for their lives. If child labor was eliminated, families would be forced to look for work and live on the streets. Even though child labor isn't so much of an issue in America today, many third world countries are forced to keep child labor in order to support their unstable economy. The real issue of the matter was what struck me the most. Because children are not considered "legal adults" until they are 18, they basically have no say in the government's decisions. The only way for child labor to come to an end, would be for school systems, parents, and the government to stop ignoring the problem. The information provided in this presentation was very captivating. I am know aware of the child labor problem that exists all over the world. I am horrified that almost half of the children living in this world are working under poor conditions in order to help out their families.