Child Labor
These photos show how harsh the conditions for children are and also how young the children are. Children as young as nine are enslaved and forced to work in these dreadful sweatshops and are paid a miserable amount. These children are often hurt on the job, and are stripped of their natural rights.
Today, more than 1.75 million children worked at many of the major industries such as factories, mines, and mills. The wages are even worse ranging to only a dismal forty cents and were lower than an adult’s pay. So, why do they stay in work? Parents make children work to contribute to the family’s income. Recently, reformers have been able to make congress pass child labor laws which limit the minimal age for children. Still, companies made children lie about their age to elude the officials and even parents ignored them to make their children contribute to the family.
On March 25, a total outrage and disaster occurred called the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. A huge fire had started on the eighth floor of a shirt factory. A large majority of the workers were teenage immigrants and were trapped instantly. The owners of the factory had locked the doors to “prevent item theft” Over 100 people died in that fire because of “item theft prevention” This is an outrage and should have been prevented by having more worker rights.
The major issue of child labor rights is an issue today that needs to be ameliorated through the way of passing new laws and government regulation. The selfish bosses of the major industrial scene are the poison within our society. Their filth is contaminating the rest of society and must be stopped. The only way is to make laws to protect our child workers’ rights.