Skip to main content

CHILD LABOUR

   In some countries, many children under the age of fourteen work outside their homes. They work as househelps, hawkers, bus conductors as well as servers in bars and eating places, some wash cars, sell newspapers or carry heavy loads in the market. These kinds of work are called child labour. Child labour endangers children's health and safety. Very often, the work prevents them from going to school or slows down their education. It does not allow children to play games watch television, play or do other things that children love doing.
     It is true that in most Nigeria communities, young children have always been used for selling goods around the villages or town. The children sell goods by calling their wares aloud or by going from door to door. However, this takes place in villages where the children are well known and are quite safe. In such cases, the children hawk things very early before going to school or after they come back from school. In big towns, children hawk from morning till evening. They hawk in the market, motor parks, mechanic villages, busy roads and building sites.
     Young children who hawk goods are in great danger. They can be knocked down by cars, wounded by motor scraps, beaten and hurt by adults. Young female hawkers can be molested by adult men. In addition, young hawkers learn bad behavior like lying, cheating, stealing and insult. Many of the young hawkers miss school regularly. Even when they go they are too tired to listen in class or do their homework at the end of the day.
In spite of all the disadvantages discussed above, it is important to remember that some situations force children to work. This may be because their families do not have enough money, so the children have to work to bring in some additional money. Some children have to find money to pay for their fees, school uniform, books and other things. Some guardians ask children to hawk in order to pay for their feeding. It is quite clear that many adults are not aware that there are laws which forbid child labour in Nigeria. Some who know about the laws say that in our culture, children are expected to work and earn some money to help their families. So, it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between normal children's work and child abuse. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rock Formation

A rock may be defined as a hard compact mass made up of cluster of primary or secondary minerals. The primary minerals are those that are as they were made in nature. Some of them are Quartz, Olivine, Pyroxene, Hornblende, Biotite, Muscovite and feldspar. On the other hand, secondary minerals consists of particles worn out from original minerals which have combined with other elements. They exist in form of: (i) Oxide such as those of magnesium, Iron and Aluminum. (ii) Sulphates and carbonates of Iron, Magnesium and Calcium. (iii) Clay minerals such as the silicate clays and the hydrous Oxide.   TYPES OF ROCKS (i) Igneous rock (ii) sedimentary rock (iii) Metamorphic rock. Based on their chemical composition, we have basic and acidic rocks. Granite is a very good example of an acid rock. PROCESSES OF ROCK FORMATION IGNEOUS ROCK :This is formed through the process of cooling and hardening of the molten magma. This molten magna is confined deep down below the earth crust und...
1 comment
Read more

TEACHING AND PEACE CORPS

Teaching today is hard work. The old demands that one knows his subject and master the art of teaching are increased by the need to prepare students for a world that is constantly changing, and in ways that were unfamiliar and complicated.     We now inhabit what we should call spaceship earth, and the instructor's book didn't come with it.     But it is not true that the demands of our own technological world represent the only or even the most difficult challenge to the teacher. Beyond the technological world, there is a world not constantly changing, in fact, where change has not come fast enough, and when change alone can bring partnership in the 20th century.     To the developing world, the peace corps teacher is asked to bring skills and knowledge. He is also asked to bring understanding, which respects the beauty of that world's religious beliefs and customs. The peace corps teacher must guide and, at the same time, respect the student's uniquene...
1 comment
Read more

HERNIA

Hernia occurs in an individual when part of the intestine pushes through the wall of the abdomen and appears as a bulge at the site. There are many sites where hernia can occur, although the commonly encountered type is that found in the groin. This type of hernia is known as femoral or inguinal hernia. Hernia may occur on the navel or near it. The hernia which occurs on the navel is called umbilical hernia, while that which occurs close to it is known as paraumbilical hernia. These two types of hernia are less common than the femoral type.   Groin hernia occurs more commonly in males, but can also occur in females in a few cases. In this kind of hernia, there is a weakness in the abdominal wall in the groin region about midway across the groin. It may appear on either side or, sometimes on both sides. A good sign is that swelling increases, initially it can be pushed back manually into the body. Later on, it gets bigger still and lies almost permanently outside the body, especi...
1 comment
Read more