The phenomenon of child labor is one of the bad social phenomena that are widespread in societies, especially those of developing countries. This phenomenon deprives children of their childhood and destroys their future. The elimination of one of the natural stages in human life is considered to be contrary to nature. What causes it? What are the ways to treat them?
The phenomenon of child labor is the work of children who have not completed their eighteenth year, whether it is forced or forced, or voluntary by the child himself, where the child at this age is a minor and has no control of his affairs and decisions, and needs an agent. Its place is the school to receive compulsory academic education, and it may be exposed to risks as a result of its work, because most of the public safety is not followed by employers, because the operation of this child is illegal.
Reasons for the spread of child labor:
- Poverty: The need of the child or his family's need for money forces him to leave school and go to the street in search of work to support his family.
-Tradition: The child's vision of people greater than him makes him wish to imitate them; he looks at them admiringly because they depend on themselves rather than taking their money from their parents. - Bad friends: Some bad friends encourage the child to leave school and look for work.
-Family disintegration and family problems Some children may be able to work to escape the problems they face at home as a result of the continuing disagreement between the mother and father or the result of their separation. - Acceptance of employers Employing children: The lack of a salary or child's pay for hours of work, the exploitation of the child's need to work long hours or the threat of losing a job are among the main reasons employers accept child labor....
Methods of treatment of the phenomenon of child labor:
- Establish strict laws, regulations and penalties for employers trying to employ children under the legal age.
Improving the living conditions of children living in poverty; through subsidy services, zakat, and occasional assistance. - Follow-up of children in schools to prevent them from dropping out or leaving them to study, and focusing on vocational education, which teaches weak children in academic study careers in the future.
- Provide psychological services for children suffering from family disintegration and family problems, and try to solve their problems with all confidentiality and privacy.
- To provide suitable work for the ages of children during periods of school holidays, whether to help them collect their expenses or to spend their leisure time, and thus be active when they return to study, so that the work is under the auspices of the government to maintain the safety of children.
