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Editorial
The International Labour Organisation estimates that there are 246 million working children aged between five and 17. Some would argue that not all work is detrimental to children – it can teach them discipline and self-reliance as well as important skills. It is the nature of the work which determines whether it is harmful. And for millions, such work is dangerous and destructive, depriving them of childhood, if not of life. A recent UNICEF Report states that “The most familiar example of adults exploiting children is hazardous labour. Adults often make children work long hours in homes, factories, in fields or on the streets, rather than sending them to school – denying them their fundamental rights to education and protection.”*
The forces behind such exploitation of children are powerful: greed, lust, war, poverty. The exploiters often see children as cheap and expendable. Poverty means that even caring families sometimes have to rely on child labour to survive. The realities of poverty were often behind children working in hazardous conditions in the past in many western countries, and are behind much of the child labour which flourishes today. Simply banning such labour (if that were possible) could worsen the children's plight. But the terrible results are made clear in this newsletter. We hear about the dangers facing children working in Indian match-making factories or carrying heavy loads on the streets of Africa. Many miss out on education – reducing any chance of breaking out of the cycle of deprivation. It is not only poverty which must be tackled, but also the underlying attitudes which make education – particularly for girls – a lower priority for children than their labour. Also potentially harmful is the view that sees children as an investment for their parents’ future rather than people in their own right.
A fundamental issue, as pointed out by the Children's Officer from ECUSA, is the question of how we value childhood. She argues that popular culture would have us regard it as just a mechanism to prepare for adulthood. Many use childhood as a tool, they do not value it This is in sharp contrast to Our Lord's teaching. Jesus said “Suffer the little children to come unto me”. In a culture which did not value children, He gave them particular value and spoke of terrible punishment for those who harm them.
The document “A World Fit for Children” was produced by the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Children in May 2002. It stresses again the rights of children to education and the need to protect them from economic exploitation. This newsletter makes clear the amount of work which must be done to achieve this goal. But it also tells of practical projects which, even in a small way, are helping to alleviate the problems: cultivating pepper seeds in Ghana and so enabling parents to meet school fees; projects to help educate street children in Brazil; the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary working to raise awareness and bring some education and hope to child labourers in India. Christian organisations such as the Viva Network and Jubilee Action – and many others – focus their work on rescuing children from the worst forms of child labour. Despite the magnitude of the problems, there are things we, as members of the Anglican Communion and followers of Christ, can do.
*End Child Exploitation, UNICEF, January2003
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