Why doesn’t the government enforce child labor laws upon their citizens?

In my previous blog towards the end, I talked about how I wanted to learn more about China’s government policy about child labor. In this blog, I am going to discuss what I learnt about China’s government policy on child labor and how it is still affecting children, but first I want restate my thoughts and beliefs on what I learned to accept from other people and from the media. As I described in my first entry, I thought the Chinese government was at fault for the uncontrollable number of underage workers because the government was not attentive to protect children from working at a young age because of the demand in supplies they wanted to fulfill. Another reason why I thought the Chinese government did not prohibit children from working was because they would have a lot of problems enforcing the laws due to their population. Now acquiring new information, I now know that is not necessarily the case. What I failed to understand when I was younger that on January 1^st, 1995 there was a new child labor law put in effect that did not allow children under 16 years old to be employed, according to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs. I was surprised when I discovered this information. My earlier belief on how the government was not attentive to protect children was dismissed. But if all this time the government had laws to protect children then, why is there still an increasing amount of underage workers? I would later find out through the Bureau of International Labor Affairs that there is a great amount of difficulty enforcing the child labor laws because most children use counterfeit identification cards to get employed. There have been several reports of counterfeit ID used frequently in China. According to Bureau of International Labor Affairs, some employees confessed that they lied on their ID cards claiming to be 16, but was actually three or four years younger. Now I feel as though I have a brighter picture on the question on why children work at an early age. I am now convinced that it is not the government fault a hundred percent because they have been trying to put an end to the child labor in the past, but just are having difficulty enforcing the law because of the over-whelming numbers of false identification. This makes sense because China contributes greatly to the world’s population. However, I think the government should be more conscious of this issue and make it require that teenagers show another form of identification or pass a new law protecting workers. I feel as though I am learning a lot about China and starting to figure out things for myself as oppose of listening to other people.

Bureau of International Labor Affairs March 2008 National Child Labor Laws. Electronic document, http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat/china.htm accessed March 16, 2008

China Labour Bulletin association. November 2003 Child Labour in China: Causes and solutions. Electronic document, http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/3304 accessed March 16, 2008

Child labor present in schools in China?

In my last blog, I was so fascinated at my research findings that the lack of education played a major role in deciding why Chinese children started to work at a young age that I decided to investigate the relations of schools and child labor. I came across an article titled “China: End Child Labor in State Schools” by the Human Rights Watch organization, that was about how some schools in China, both middle and junior high schools, were violating child labors laws because of the “work and study” program issued. As a result, the program was affecting thousands of children because it was interfering with the student’s education and placing some students in dangerous health conditions. The students worked long hours only to do work that would put their health in jeopardy. According to the Christian Science Monitor, in 1987 three million former Chinese students became apart of the other 37 million former Chinese students in dropping out of school in order to do work. This report shows how schools played a role in deciding whether a young person will become a worker at an early age or not. After reading these reports, I really started to understand one of my main concerns in my cross-cultural encounter with China, which is a child working at a very young age. To my knowledge on China’s child labor, here is how I interpret the situation of a child who participates in “work and study”. The primary reason why children start working early is because a lack of education and not being able to afford schooling. Most children, who are either middle class or lower class students, who wants an education, do not have a choice in the matter but to participate in “work and study” due to their financial situation. As I just described, “work and study” in some areas of China, can be harsh and the conditions can be compared to a time in Europe’s industrial revolution dating back to the 1800’s. What I am concluding from the article and from my latest research findings is that child labor in schools can be seen as a never ending cycle for some children because if one is poor and wants to get an education, the idea of “work and study” is attracting because he or she is receiving money, even though very little, for doing homework, but according to this article, “work and study” is the same as if one worked in a company or factory in the 1800s. If that person stays working at a factory for “X” amount of years and go on to have kids, then, most likely his or her child will go through the same thing. To elaborate on the subject matter, I am interested into looking at China’s government policy about child labor because I have no knowledge in this area. I feel as though, once I understand that half of the issue, I will have a better understanding with my cross-culture encounter with China.

Bureau of International Labor Affairs March 2008 Laws of China: Education laws. Electronic document, http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat/china.htm accessed March 16, 2008

Human Rights Watch 2006 China: End Child Labor in State Schools. Electronic document, http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm accessed March 16, 2008

Why are children working at a young age in China?

Child labor in China is the cross-cultural encounter that I am investigating for this semester. I chose this topic because I do not know much about China’s rules and policies on children and I believe that children should not be working at a young age. In this blog, I am going to talk about why children in China are engaging in work at a young age, but before I elaborate on my research findings, I am going to talk about my knowledge about the subject prior to what I have discovered. When I was young, I thought the reason why children in China worked at a young age was because China’s ideology was similar to America, responsibility and individuality. Most American parents encourage his or her child to set up a lemonade stand, rake leaves, shovel snow, or do chores around the house; however, later in life I would discover that this is not the same case in China. Growing up, I learned to accept things from what I heard from the media and from what other people said about China. I was led to believe that China’s government was to blame for the increasing amount of young workers because the demand of supplies in China was so great that the government needed children to work for them to fulfill the quota. After doing research, I learned this is not necessarily the case. According to the China Labour Bulletin, I found out that a good potion of Chinese children do not have easy access to education like the United States because the location of schools is difficult and poor families are unable to afford to put their children in school. Also, some children are fooled into working at a young age by their family members, but one of the main reasons why children are working at a young age is because their family cannot afford the education for their children. It never came across my mind that the lack of education was one of the main causes of children working at a young age. Knowing this information now, I can start to see the picture. It is to my understanding that compared to American schooling, Chinese schools have longer days and less time off, if this is true, then it is going to be more difficult for parents who do not have enough money to put their children in school. I feel as though I learnt a lot off of this curious question because before I based my beliefs according to America’s society and what I heard, but now I am starting to see things in a new perspective.

China Labour Bulletin. November 2003 Child Labour in China: Causes and solutions. Electronic document, http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/3304 accessed March 16, 2008.

Introduction

The cross-cultural encounter that I wish to investigate in my blog is child labor in China. The reason why I chose this topic is because I do not have any personal engagement of a culture and because I know very little about the rules and regulation of child labor in China. This topic grabs my attention because I firmly believe that children at that stage in life should be enjoying life and not working so hard. What I hope to learn from this cultural encounter is that: why are children working in at a very young age? Why are some children forced to work in sweat shops? Why doesn’t the government enforce child labor laws upon their citizens? I attend to learn a lot about China’s government and the children way of life. By the end of the semester I want to able to distinguish fact from fiction. I feel as though the less I already know about the cultural the more I will learn through investigating.