By Fatima Kabba

 

Imagine your factory got shut down, and you couldn’t make money anymore. What would you do? Your family is counting on you! This is reality for many children who are laborers. While some people believe that the ban on child labor is good for children, other feel it is harmful. This can help families make money, give children a shot at receiving an education, and protect them from more dangerous jobs. 

One reason why the ban on child labor is harmful is because working in factories can help families make money. In the article entitled, Debating on Child Labor, the text states, ‘’The money earned from child labor may be necessary for families, who don’t make enough money to buy the essentials to survive.’  This suggest that child labor can be helpful sometimes because the money can help their family what they needed. The article also states that, ‘’in poor countries like Bangladesh, working children are essential for survival of many families’’. 

Another reason the ban on child labor is harmful is because it can put children into more dangerous jobs. In the article entitled, Debating on Child Labor the text states, ‘’Children that used to work in textile factories lose their jobs overnight and end-up working in less paid areas, with more dangerous working conditions’’. This is important to understand because the children will work at more dangerous jobs like the sex trade and in gangs.  

The final reason the ban on child labor is harmful is because it effects their education. In the article entitled United Nation’s ban on child labor is a ‘damaging mistake,’ the text states, ‘’Banning children from work doesn’t bring them back into school; in fact, it might do the opposite if they were working to pay their school fees’’. This shows that these jobs give children a chance to improve their lives.

To conclude, the ban on child labor is harmful because it affects their education, focus them into more dangerous jobs, and removes an opportunity for valuable household income. In order to address this issue, we must not ban the factories because, like I said, they will work somewhere more dangerous, they won’t have money to support their family, and then they won’t be able to pay their school fees. This is important because you don’t want to see children in the sex trade, gangs and dangerous jobs. You want to see children in a better place.