Consequences of child labour
Please give your views on consequences of child labour on the affected individual as well as on national development efforts and how these affect the youth.
Hi Mui, Child labour that deprives children of their childhood and opportunity to go to school deprives nations of talent. This has negative effects on both social and economic development. Criminal activity, vandalism are a few of the social effects. Economically nations loose out since the children are not able to grow into mature informed and productive citizens.--Smauye 07:30, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi Smauye, this is indeed the crux of the matter when looking at the consequences on national development. Missing out on attaining the education and skills to effectively participate in the labour market denies a lot of child labourers the opportunity to have a better means of sustenance in the future. Do you have any specific cases you have encountered or dealt with to share on children directly impacted on?
Hi,
I believe that all the consequences of child labour have been shared by my colleagues and i can say that they are similar in most areas regardless of age, sex, race and geographical location, these include emotional, psychological and mental trauma and children are also exposed to STI, physical and sexual abuse. these children do not also grow up or develop into responsible and productive individuals.
Hi Mui,
The victims of child labour may be exposed to dangerous situations that may affect their health, as well as their social and moral well being. Child labourers who most times are sent to hawk may fall victims of sexual exploitation which may expose them to HIV/AIDS. Their social orientation also becomes affected, this is because they mix up with adults on the streets and since they are at an impressionable age they easily become recruited into armed gangs, exposed to hard drugs and other vices.
Victims of child labour when they attain the youth age bracket often become maladjusted. They may have been denied the opportunity of education as a child and so may not have a means of livelihood; with no skills and unemployed these groups of youth may become delinquent in their bid to survive and this may adversely affect the socio-economic development of their nation.
The consequences of child labour are as varied as the forms of child labour. If child labour prevents one from getting educated, such an individual's chances of getting out of poverty are greatly reduced. Whem you have big numbers of such individuals, a nation will be deprived of the necessary human capital.
Political inability. Mental deformity. Increased illiteracy. Perpetuation of poverty. Inability to contribute or benefit from development. Stunted growth of future generation. Persistence of child labour and inability to harness human resources.
Dear Chichi, you have interestingly brought up the aspect of the spiral of child labour and poverty. Just to pick one angle of this, a family may consider the opportunity cost of sending a child to school as a discouraging factor compared to having them bring in some income or help with some family activities. The child then gets into adolescence without the education and skills required to compete favourably in the labour market and ends up in continued exploitative working conditions, struggling to survive or other undesired situations. In adulthood, the person is much less likely to take their children through school and so the spiral goes on.
Indeed,child labour has a lot of consequences on the affected individual and national development. I see the consequences as one thing leading to the other. It has psychological problems on the individual. The victim may always wonder why s/he has to go through this ordeal or practice. The situation can also impede the educational ability of victims. Victims along the line may not become educable because they either lose interest or perform poorly in education. Cumulatively, I may say that it causes increased illiteracy and ignorant citizens. Interestingly,it can also pose health hazards that go unnoticed. child labour can result in stunted growth of the child and his/her posterity. Most child labourers are highly malnourished thereby reducing their immunity against various diseases. The list may go on and on but child labour as a consequence on national development can not be underestimated.
Nationally, child labour has the potential of promoting rural- urban migration of citizens. This does not suggest to mean that child labour only goes on in the rural areas. It can also heighten the frustrations of citizens of a nation as great persons and future eminent individuals get extinct through child labour. Due to low income levels, there will always be the inability of such victims to contribute to national development because of perpetuation economic downturn. Again, I will agree to the fact that child labour can be come a persistent activity or cycle in a family if nations do not fight against it through policies such as free compulsory and universal basic education.
Effects on the youth: Victims of child labour may be serious potentials for gangsterism. They become targets of rebels and revolt groups who may use them for very diabolic activities. Again, potentials will be lost in brain drain to child labour. Greats minds would not be able to climb to the top because of the limitation of good education and exposure. --Kafuiaheto 17:56, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
Mui,
I think child labour is a counterproductive encounter in that parents, as well as the children themselves, engage in the hope of getting an extra coin to add to their income; however, the lost chance of education sinks the child into deeper poverty in future and of course this leads to a bitter youth who is willing to hit back at society, ushering in crime among the youth. We say that everything has its time and let the child go to school at the expected age and start working later.
Child labour has a negative effect on national development by denying the future drivers of the economy, the children, the chance to be educated--Marcosmburu 16:28, 7 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi colleaques,
The consequences of child labour are; psychological problems which may affect the mental ability of the child, child migration, health hazard which could lead to HIV/AIDS and STIs diseases, illiteracy, poverty, drug abuse etc. All these have negative effect on national development.
Hi all,
Child labour will not break the cycle of poverty. Most of these people will never have a chance of attaining a basic level of education to improve their standard of living. Eventually, these individuals will have families and they will not have much to offer to their children. This entails enlarged illegal settlements for urban areas. It is mostly in these areas that crime thrives and these areas are not catered for in terms of national development. Most of these areas lack clean drinking water, sanitation and proper housing just to mention a few. There will be no sustainable development for the youth.
The consequences are grave as the adage says,children of today are the adults of tomorrow,as these children grow up into adults they tend to have psychological problems which may lead into them not realizing what good is in them and they can do to bring about national development.
