Child Labour Torture
Child labour is a horrible way of getting children to work. It is unimaginable. Frightful. Ugly. The torture children have to go through, and then they are expected to work twice as hard is mind-boggling. Children are mentally and physically scarred for life. The memories that will stay with them for the rest of their lives are haunting for them, family and friends. The hazards can be classified into 3 categories: physical, cognitive and emotional & social.
Physical
There are jobs that are hazardous in themselves and affect child labourers immediately. They affect the overall health, coordination, strength, vision and hearing of children. Working in mines, quarries, construction sites and carrying heavy loads are some of the activities that put children directly at risk, physically. Jobs in the glass and brass-ware industry in India, where children are exposed to high temperatures while rotating the wheel furnace and use heavy and sharp tools, are clearly physically hazardous to them as well.
Cognitive
Education helps a child to develop cognitively, emotionally and socially, and needless to say, education is often significantly reduced by child labour. Cognitive development includes literacy, numeracy and the need-to-know knowledge necessary to normal life. Work may take so much of a child's time that it becomes impossible for them to attend school; even of they do attend, they may be too tired to be attentive and to follow the lessons.
Emotional and Social
There are jobs that may impose a threat to a child's psychological and social growth more than physical growth. For example, a domestic job can involve relatively 'light' work. According to a UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) survey, about 90% of employers of domestic workers in India preferred children of 12 to 15 years of age. This is mostly because they can be easily dominated and obliged to work for long hours and can be paid less than what would have to be paid to a adult worker.
Physical
There are jobs that are hazardous in themselves and affect child labourers immediately. They affect the overall health, coordination, strength, vision and hearing of children. Working in mines, quarries, construction sites and carrying heavy loads are some of the activities that put children directly at risk, physically. Jobs in the glass and brass-ware industry in India, where children are exposed to high temperatures while rotating the wheel furnace and use heavy and sharp tools, are clearly physically hazardous to them as well.
Cognitive
Education helps a child to develop cognitively, emotionally and socially, and needless to say, education is often significantly reduced by child labour. Cognitive development includes literacy, numeracy and the need-to-know knowledge necessary to normal life. Work may take so much of a child's time that it becomes impossible for them to attend school; even of they do attend, they may be too tired to be attentive and to follow the lessons.
Emotional and Social
There are jobs that may impose a threat to a child's psychological and social growth more than physical growth. For example, a domestic job can involve relatively 'light' work. According to a UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) survey, about 90% of employers of domestic workers in India preferred children of 12 to 15 years of age. This is mostly because they can be easily dominated and obliged to work for long hours and can be paid less than what would have to be paid to a adult worker.