Child labor has always been a tricky topic to discuss in our society. With the modern economy, not all children have to work; however, in the past, children had to work just to survive. Child employment still has some cons and pros, which are worth considering.
First, child labor can give children valuable experience, but more importantly, by working at different jobs, children can decide what they want for their future. Nowadays, it is a big problem that a majority of high school graduates do not know what they want from life and what major to choose in college. Some may argue that work can damage children’s grades; however, I think that the problem lies only in the bad time management of teenagers.
On the other hand, child employment has disadvantages, too. I would highlight two of the biggest: the potential risk of bad influence from a bad working environment or staff and the risk of exploitation. These two are connected and are often found together. In order to prevent these, parents have to pay more attention to their children’s mental health by talking to them and checking on their conditions at all times.
It is true that money from the work can help the family financially, especially if the family is poor. Nevertheless, children could lose their childhood because of an overload of activities caused by school and work. Therefore, I believe that the minimum age for employment should be 14 or 15 years and not younger.
In conclusion, child labor is a good thing, but of course, with some cons, as with everything. I think that child employment must improve in safety for children. I think the government must track all child labor work experience and provide this information to potential workers; by doing that, a major flaw will be removed. With that and with parents’ control, I think it can be very useful for everyone.