Deleted discussion
this discussion post was deleted because it was not a reply to the moderator nor to another member of the class. For more information, read the instructions on the header above or email me for details.
--Victor P. K. Mensah 13:01, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Very interesting already, joining the discussion rather or the late note is not exciting to the already discussion this is because one may just repeating issues already pointed out by others. Never the less, child labor in Zambia has been one such social vice that is commonly experienced mostly in suburbs, peri urban centers and much more in the rural parts of Zambia. Causes of child labor a. Ideally in most cases it is one silent social vice that is done unconsciously due to lack of knowledge in many families especially rural based. b. Others because it is costumed, they went through selling during their time of growing hence their children should sell too. c. Relative Depravity is another causes, a thing which comes as a consequent of being poor, chronicler poverty stricken homes. This family has not choice but to send the young one into the street of Lusaka begging for money, selling food stuffs,crushing stones. Also some gets even into prostitution....
Drug addicts also drives young ones who cannot find money for their drug supplements to go into other Income generating Ventures so that they can raise their money. Farming as already pointed out accounts for a bigger percentage of children that are meant to farm at the expense of school.
Child headed households are also heavily indulged into this vice. The parents are not their to take care of their basic needs hence the elder child goes to the street to look for their bread and butter.
Hi Isaac,
Welcome to the discussions and you are not too late. Thank you for your obervations on interelated common causes of child labour. Do you know of any child labour networks supporting the national efforts to address these problems?
hello Mui,
Sorry am late in my contributions. I have followed other colleagues with interest. Indeed child labour as described in various contexts is quite heart breaking, especially where HIV AIDS is the main driver. However, we also need to distinguish between 'allowable' survival strategies and child labour. Personaly I grew up in a poor family and was taught skills in selling and through that I managed to complete my education. Today I am a university graduate. I welcome comments from colleagues.--Smauye 07:25, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi Smauye and welcome to the sessions. You have indeed raised a very important point and participants are encouraged to interact a bit more on this i.e. distinguishing between child work that is positive and child labour. When child work becomes injurous, negative, harmful or undesirable to the child or in short infringes on their childhood rights, it constitutes child labour. Hope to see more discussions and examples on this.
Yes, most of the issues areas covered on the above postings. Thanks for the interesting insights!!!!!. Because the children are the most vulnerable and easier to control and exploit many employers prefer to employ children and youths. This adds to the plight of young people seeking dignified work at a living wage. When children and young people lack education and skills, when their families cannot adequately support them, and when the local economy offers no prospects of dignified work at a living wage, youth are vulnerable to exploitation and in the mean time they could lost their confident to be independent entrepreneurs , definitely this practice will restrict the youth entrepreneurship prospects in the country.
Thank yo very much for the observaton guys i appreciate it so much. My points were based on my experience and what may be considered to be above normally consideration under normal human perspectives of survival. Iam glad Smuye you are a graduate today because your mother did not exploit you but taught you survival mechanisms. Iam Zambian and African hence am using African perspective of considering what is abuse and what is okay. Lets face it my friend. If you were not given time to do school work and may be asked to trade off between your school and selling so that you can have something on your table i dont think today you may be a a proud graduate. You could have simply not have been educated period. There a number of young people out there who are simply not being allowed to go to school because they will be needed to be in the street. I agree more profoundly though that your points are very much varied but the thing is, many young people are being abused , deprived and mistrusted becouse there are a weak element in society.
To answer the other question, yes there are a number of organisation but not handling the whole issue holistically. Many of them are in Lusaka with no presence in rural and other peri urban areas. We need a very robust approach, vicious movement ,which will embrace multifaceted approach in executing this vice if Zambia is to attain the Education for all MDG, and produce a number of graduate like SMUYE
This interaction is very enriching and encouraging. Madam moderator, i would suggest that this interaction is sustained beyond this training. We can come up with a movement to advocate for the children rights in a broader context through a wider network interaction such as this one. I see most of all the critical stakeholder being represented here thus it can make a very powerful advocacy campaign team. Its just a proposal but i strongly think it can effectively help various organisations to deliver their mandates efficiently.
Hi Isaac,
Your contribution is very interesting. However, my personal experience with selling has been different. As a young girl my mom used to teach me to sell. She explained that the household income was not adequate so she needed more income for paying school fees. I sold fritters with understanding. Like I said today I am glad she did because I am well educated. I think there is a tension between real child labour and allowable socialisation that empowers children with survival skills. --Smauye 07:36, 4 March 2011 (UTC)
