Challenging child labor When people under the age of majority are employed in continuous work, this practice

is considered child labor. The definition of child labor can be challenging to pin down, because different cultures have different definitions of child and sustained labor, and this can make the formulation and enforcement of laws which are designed to eliminate child labor rather difficult. Opponents of the practice of hiring children argue that child labor is exploitative and often very dangerous. According to the United Nations, a child is any person under the age of 18. Specific labor laws may consider people under the age of 16 children for legal purposes, and in some countries the cut off may be even lower, around 12 or 14. Statistics on this type of labor usually focus on children between the ages of five and 14, because many nations in which child labor is a problem have laws which allow people to work full time after the age of 14. Sustained labor could be any form of full time employment, ranging from agricultural work to factory work. Child labor tends to involve rote tasks such as manufacturing, farming, and cleaning, although children may also work in other industries, such as the sex industry. In order to be considered child labor, rather than simple work experience, the child must generally be unable to attend school because of his or her work schedule, and the working conditions must be hard or dangerous. There are several issues with child labor. The first issue is that minors are not empowered under the law to make choices on their own, and in many cases, children are working because they are forced to do so, not because they want to work. In some instances, the children used for manufacturing and other tasks are actually slaves who were sold by their parents for such work. Children who are not slaves may receive minimal wages for their work, and they are often forced to turn the wages over to family members, rather than keeping them for themselves. Child laborers also do not have a chance to go to school, or to socialize with friends and live normal lives. Children have been working on family farms and in family businesses for centuries, and historically it was common to apprentice children as young as eight. Apprenticeships were quite valued, as they gave children an opportunity to create careers for themselves by training with experienced people, and everyone from doctors to weavers learned through apprenticeship systems. The tradition of encouraging children to engage in family farm work or help out with family-owned businesses endures today in many regions of the world. Using children as laborers became an issue in the industrial age, when factories began to arise to manufacture goods which had historically been made at home or by artisans. With the rise of factories came a number of labor issues, ranging from the length of the work day to workplace safety, and children were often documented in factories performing grueling work like weaving and tailoring. Children also worked in hazardous environments like mines. The first child labor laws were passed in the 1800s, reflecting social unease about the employment of children in factories. While child labor is a very serious issue, many nations have taken steps to allow people under the age of 18 to work in certain circumstances. In many societies, work is viewed as a valuable experience and contribution to society, and the availability of part time work and apprenticeships to people under the age of 18 is considered important. In these cases, a minor must generally obtain a permit for work, and his or her working hours and conditions are limited by law to prevent exploitation and ensure that the minor has time to go to school and socialize. Child labor is one of the many concerns in the Philippines and, most disturbingly, one of the most rampant problems we face. In the endeavor to create an awareness of an already existing law that is evidently not properly implemented, child labor clearly falls within this category. Every child has the right to the most basic of necessities in life like a healthy environment, formal education, and most importantly, a loving family to come home to. Yet, poverty hinders the child to any of these things and forces labor in farming fields, mining shafts and peddling in the busy and dangerous streets of the country. Violence Against Children: The Philippine Experience* Violence Against Children: The Philippine Experience* Terre des Hommes-Germany; Terre des Hommes Netherlands; Asia ACTs Against Child Trafficking E-mail: tdhbkk@ksc15.th.com, asiaacts@tri-isys.com In the Philippines, children who are victims of violence are categorized as children needing special protection (CNSP).CNSP includes child labour; children-victims of sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation; abandoned and neglected or children without primary caregivers; children of indigenous cultural groups; child-victims of disasters; children in situations of armed conflict; street children; and, children in conflict with the law. Violence against Filipino children are committed through physical and psychological abuse/deprivation that manifest in the worst forms of child labour, child prostitution, begging in the streets, abandonment, trafficking and /or recruitment as soldiers or couriers in areas of armed conflict.

What is Child Labor? Child labor is work that harms children or keeps them from attending school. Around the world and in the U. S., growing gaps between rich and poor in recent decades have forced millions of young children out of school and into work. The International Labor Organization estimates that 246 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 currently work under conditions that are considered illegal, hazardous, or extremely exploitative. Underage children work at all sorts of jobs around the world, usually because they and their families are extremely poor. Large numbers of children work in commercial agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, mining, and domestic service. Some children work in illicit activities like the drug trade and prostitution or other traumatic activities such as serving as soldiers.

Child labor involves at least one of the following characteristics:

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Violates a nations minimum age laws Threatens childrens physical, mental, or emotional well-being Involves intolerable abuse, such as child slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, or illicit activities Prevents children from going to school Uses children to undermine labor standards

Unconditional Worst Forms of Child Labor 8.4 million children are involved in work that, under any circumstance, is considered unacceptable for children, including the sale and trafficking of children into debt bondage, serfdom, and forced labor. It includes the forced recruitment of children for armed conflict, commercial sexual exploitation, and illicit activities, such as producing and trafficking drugs.

The term Child Labor means illegally employing children who are less than 18 years of age in dangerous and life threatening activities. Poverty is the main reason due to which children under the age of 18 years are compelled to work in dangerous and life threatening conditions. In Philippines there are about 2.06 million children who are forced to work in rock quarries, farms, industries, mines and on fishing boats. The consequences of Child Labor on an underage child can be numerous and crippling on his or her physical, mental and emotional state. It can seriously hamper the well being of a child who is supposed to get a sound education and nutrition to develop into a healthy adult. Due to Child labor these children end up being malnutritioned, weak and can also suffer from a large number of ailments. The percentage of young people in Philippines between the age of five and seventeen is about 33 percent of its total population which comes to about 22.4 million. This is a large number considering that Philippines is a young nation. Between the ages of 5 to 7 years, one in every six children has to work to earn a living and help support his or her family. This astounding fact tells us that around sixteen percent of young children in Philippines are working. Child Labor is prevalent in mining, production, farming, and deep sea fishing industries and many children are also working as domestic workers. The most common industry where child labor is practiced in Philippines is Deep-sea fishing. About forty years ago the sea around Philippines was plentiful of fish, the fishermen could make a tremendous catch just along the shore. Sadly that is not the case now as fishermen need to go miles into the sea to get a decent catch which will get them a day's meal. Many a times they need to use cyanide, dynamites and nets to able to catch a good amount of fish. There are many fishermen who use young boys to help them catch the fish, who quite unfortunately die while fishing, due to hazardous practices. An illegal method of fishing called Muro Ami which is used frequently in Philippines is the most common form of Child labor prevalent today. In this method the young child dives down to deep depths of the sea. He carries with him a rock or a pipe which he uses to beat the delicate corals so that the huge number of fishes living in them get startled and are driven into large nets waiting to catch them. Many a times these young children drown and lose their lives. This inhuman practice has also destroyed the beautiful coral reefs surrounding Philippines.

Types of child labour- Self employed and employed with others are two categories of child labour: o Self employed- street sellers, rag or scrap pickers, street entertainers, child prostitution or pornography (but mostly they are hired by notorious gangs), begging, and other odd jobs. These types of children are mainly street children and rural migrants. Most these children are parentless, abandoned by parents, riot or war misery. The situation changes; in poor countries they are helping hand to the parents. o Employed with others- factory or mine workers, domestic servants, child prostitution or pornography. Conducting work in other's premises or in other's custody. Such children work with parents consent or are parentless. Some are sold or some work to help parents to meet livelihood. Are Parents Legally Liable For Their Childrens Actions? Are parents or should parents be liable for their kids actions, misdeeds or even crimes? A good question that has been discussed hashed and rehashed from the dawn of man and women. What is the legal view of this regardless of what experts such as the noted experienced legal expert and consultant William Simpson has noted? It can be easiest and simply said that parents are generally not liable for their kids torts. A tort in law can be said the general law that is used and given for wrongs that are not in the guise of contracts between people or of events being paid for in an agreed contract and not fulfilled or done poorly. What this means is that for accidents or crimes done without the agreement of the aggrieved beforehand are covered by an area of law referred to as torts or tort law. The basic question is then for such crimes and deeds should parents be held liable for the actions of their kids and children.