KNOWLEDGE
Economy
Conditions
KNOWLEDGE
| The Industrial Revolution changed the way many Americans do business. The explosion of this new era brought in profits for textile mill owners, factory owners, and other manufacturers. As industries grew, products became cheaper and the need for cheap labor increased. Children began putting in longer hours for cheaper wages; they were caught in the industrial bandwagon. Due to the long hours of hard work, children lacked the time and energy for school. Illiteracy among children grew and education was not considered a priority as much as financial survival. |  Photo by Janet Jarman |
As of the year 2000, about 250 million children between the ages of 5-14 perform some sort of labor or service (UNICEF). In many developing countries, child labor is a serious problem. From the period of 1877 to 1910, the government of Mexico, although politically secure, did not set up a public education system. This meant that children who could have been in school doing productive work become a target of industrialist looking for cheap labor. Girls are more likely to be kept away from schools than boys because of their stereotypical domestic roles. In Ecuador, an alarmingly high number of children under the age of fifteen have quit school. According to the Human Rights Watch, 45 percent of children who work in the agriculture sector in the United States drop out of high school.
 Photo by Janet Jarman |
Education could mean freedom from oppression and poverty. However, these desperate parents do not encourage the children to attend school and they do not emphasize the importance of knowledge. There are many children who would like to attend school. Twelve-year-old Furman Owens, said to photographer Lewis Hine, "Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." Education is as American as apple pie for children in the U.S. and commonplace in other wealthy countries. There is no doubt about the positive effects it can have for children's future. However, for the other millions who do not attend school because of exploitation or poverty, their future becomes much more limited than it already is. Their hopes and dreams of a satisfactory life is left behind as they step into the role of hard working adult role of hard work, ready to take on the toil and sweat of trying to survive. |
Sources: globalmarch.org; "Mexico," Encarta Online, hrw.org
