Do We Really Care About Child Labor?

For many of us, child labor is something that we hope is not happening but realize deep down still is. For the most part, it is easy to find a price on a product that is too good to be true and snap it up. However, in far too many cases, the price is indeed too good to be true.

We have athletic shoes and fashionable apparel being produced by children in Asian countries and around the world. Sadly, as Americans, we don't seem to care a whole lot. We blindly purchase merchandise endorsed by "heroes" such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and LeBron James that are made by children in sweat shops. TV commentators gush over the athletic achievements of these individuals but ignore their ties to child abuse.

While certain footwear and apparel makers, such as Nike and The Gap, may be more widely known for employing children, they have not cornered the market on child labor. Child labor is a virus that reaches almost all industries in all countries, be they eastern or western, from the third world to the industrialized.

But why is child labor so prevalent? Why is it allowed to go on? I believe there are two answers to this. The first is money. What if, the next time you went to the grocery store, tomatoes were $5 a piece? What if strawberries were $10 a pint? What would you do? If you're like most of us, you'd complain. Such prices seem outrageous.

But what if you were allowed to choose between products made with child labor and those that weren't? Take the grocery store example. If there was a separate area for tomatoes made with child labor that cost four times less than those that did not, which tomatoes would you buy? I would like to think that, given favorable economic conditions, most people would choose the foods and other merchandise not produced by child labor.

This brings me to apathy, which I believe is the second reason that child labor continues to thrive in this supposedly "enlightened" age. As much as I would like to believe that people would reject merchandise produced using child labor, the sobering reality is it doesn't seem to matter much to us.

I can personally relate to this, as I was put to work by my father at age 10 in physically demanding work. I was not hidden behind a store counter, out in a field far from prying eyes, or tucked away in a mine or factory somewhere. No, I worked with my father as a landscaper.

I worked in all types of neighborhoods, from the poor to the affluent, during the day when anybody could see. And yet in the four years that I worked for my father before the age of 14 nobody ever made a peep. Nobody even suggested that perhaps something was wrong. Would you do something if you saw a clearly exhausted, 10-year-old boy slumped over a wheelbarrow after a day of hard labor on a ninety degree day? Perhaps if you were frugal and you thought that you were saving a few bucks by hiring my father and, by extension, me, you might pass it off.

But what of all the neighbors, the police officers, the clergy, and other passersby? Sadly, nobody ever said a word. Maybe they thought I was being taught character and a strong work ethic. That's the excuse my father gave me. I personally am all for character, responsibility, and a strong work ethic, but children can learn these things without abuse.

Let's assume for a moment that you are not apathetic and truly desire to do something about this. What courses of action can you pursue? You can write letters to companies and governments demanding the end of child labor, but all the letters in the world are not going to stop companies and governments from allowing and using child labor if they making money from it.

No, the only really way to show these entities you mean business is through, well, business. If you find out who is selling stuff made using child labor and consistently avoid their products, I believe you can make a difference. Be warned, however, that when you decide to purchase products not made using child labor you will pay more. Is it a price you are willing to pay?