Insight News Television presents Bangladesh: Child Labor - The Other Side: (12 minutes)
Is child labor a bad thing? In one of the first films on the ‘other side’ of the debate, award-winning journalist Ron McCullagh reveals that for many children “child labor is the best hope they’ve got of escaping absolute poverty. Titu is fourteen and he’s worked for over half his life. He works in a hot and fume-filled battery factory in Dhaka, an unhealthy place for any worker let alone a child. Yet with his earnings Titu pays for a tutor, school books and part of the rent for his family home. He works, he tells us, because he wants to get a good job and make sure his children will have a better childhood than the one he is experiencing. This report won the One World Broadcasting Trust / Unicef 1998 Advancement of Children’s Rights Award.
on Sep 20th, 2008 at 7:37 am
thanks for this… I have been aware of the paradox of this issue for quite some time now. It is true that we in the west assume that imposing our standards on the rest of the world is a good thing. However as this report shows, it is not always so simple. These people seem happy enough to take care of themselves in whatever way in necessary…
I must say though, some of the final scenes in that bottle factory looked pretty scary to me…
David, as you may have read on flickr I have just started a new job and so my time is going to be much more limited. I will still do my best to keep up with your video postings but I cant make any promises. Please know that it is only a lack of time and not lack of interest if I am not able to comment on everything….
on Sep 20th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
No worries, Sean… Good luck with new job.
Yeah, you know the kids were not even looking at those red fire hot glass that they were handling.
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Yes, this is a controversial issue. I agree with Sean that it is easy for those in the West to be self-righteous and impose our values on poorer countries, without real understanding that often child labour is the case of desperation, not choice.
What gets on me is how loosely the term ‘child labour’ is sometimes used; eg. a tourist (as opposed to traveller) to a poor country who is quick to point to children merely helping out at home as exploitation.
Now, I remember as an ten year-old I was already on my bike going across town running errands for my father. In today’s terms it would probably be labeled as something negative. Never mind if the child is willing and capable. Never mind that too much parental protection breeds a generation of over weight and spoilt children.
I digress, of course…:)
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Oh my, I can’t believe your parents made you work when you were only 10 years old…:~) This must be training to be humble and wise. I had a paper route but I don’t remember what age though…
Yes, it’s true that everything should be judged within its own context. The man that owns the factory with children workers was extremely eloquent about the issue. That was kind of impressive.