Employee of the Month: Ten-Year-Old Child
by Nicole Di Stefano
December 2008
Imagine a child growing up with no parents to show them love, no house to call their own, or anyone willing to give them an education. Now imagine millions of these children living all over the world. Although the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the United States, there are still massive reports of slavery taking place all over the world. Children and adolescence are sold into the slave trade and are ''forced to work under physical or mental threat, and where the owner or employer controls the person completely.” Child slaves are present in today’s society in places such Cote d'Ivoire, a country in West Africa, and China. These countries use child slave labor to produce products that they sell to larger corporations. If there is any doubt that child slave do exist, the people at Child Slave Labor Incorporated, who give families a place to trade in their “unwanted” kids, easily show that society still runs on slavery.
A Corporation called Child Slave Labor Incorporated is a website based business that promotes the benefits of slavery. This company was started on an island in the west Pacific with a couple of sewing machines and twelve children as their first slaves. “C.S.L. Inc. has grown to be the largest producer of goods for the independent merchant in the world, with 26 different locations, with each boasting an average of 1057 workers”. How many children has this site sold into slavery? When will their government shut them down? C.S.L. clearly state their opinion of child slave labor on their website. Once the organization publicly states that these children are in unsafe environments, then it becomes very evident to the rest of the people how real child slave labor is.
Besides organizations like C.S.L., Child slavery is present in the production of cocoa beans. In Africa, Children are forced to harvest these beans, which supply forty three percent of the United States cocoa. Thousands of children are forced to work in these slave conditions. Most of the children are between 12 and 16 years of age. These young children work to supply large corporations with cotton, cocoa, and coffee beans. They are forced to live in terrible conditions. Côte d’Ivoire, Africa, have increased the awareness of child labor practices in the cocoa sector. These reports grabbed the public’s attention because about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa. In 2001, it became known that major chocolate manufacturers, such as Hershey’s, were guilty purchasing the slave produced chocolate. When confronted by the media, Hershey Food Corporation, became ashamed of their connecting with child slavery.
China is another country where child slave labor is present. Slaves are in high demand for China’s economy. A report in People’s Daily Report concludes “child labour is particularly in demand because children have smaller hands and eyesight undamaged by years of labour, making them more desirable than adults for certain kinds of work” (O’Reilly par 2). Unfortunately in children in China, parents are almost forced to send their children to factories because of their social class. Authorities in southern China, near Hong Kong, have rescued 100 children from factories in the city of Donguan. “The children, mostly between the ages of 13 and 15, were often tricked or kidnapped by employment and then sent to factory towns, where they were forced to work 300 hours a month”. Child slaves work to produce merchandise, such as Disney products. Laborers are forced to work ten to thirteen hours a day producing Disney’s children’s books. Workers in these factories often faint from exhaustion and from the heat in the factory. These factories are also very dangerous. Workers use their hands around heavy and dangerous machinery. Children are forced to risk their lives and live in horrid environment for nothing in return.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the United States, there are still massive and startling reports of slavery taking place all over the world. Children are sold into the slave trade and are forced to work under terrible conditions. Child slaves are present in today’s society in places such Cote d'Ivoire, a country in West Africa, and China. These countries use child slave labor to produce products that they sell to larger corporations. If there is any doubt that child slave do exist, the people at Child Slave Labor Incorporated, who give families a place to trade in their “unwanted” kids, easily show that society still runs on slavery. Cote d’Ivoire uses children to harvest cocoa beans. These children work long hours, are not fed properly, are beaten, and do not have proper living arrangements. China is another country that abuses children in order to economically get ahead. Children are forced to work in a dangerous environment and risk the chance of hurting their hands with the heavy machinery. An organization that not only owns factories that house children slaves, but also buy and sell children into the slave trade. Child Slave Labor Incorporated attempts to convince parents to sell their unwanted children in order to make a quick profit. All the evidence that proves child slave labor is right in front of us. Who is going to be the next Martin Luther King?