The annual World Day against Child Labour is held on the first Friday of February every year. It is an international day where children work for an hour or longer making presents for relatives and friends. On this day, children from any part of the world are allowed to work for an hour or more making whatever gift they want. While working, children are also exposed to many hazards such as illness, accidents, and violence.
Today, over 180 million children around the globe are directly involved in some type of child labour. Most children who work in this manner are from rural areas. A simple search on the internet will reveal many stories of child labour; these stories highlight the terrible abuse and exploitation of children in various aspects of child labour. However, child labour is not an entirely terrible phenomenon. There are many children who are now able to lead a happy and productive life thanks to the efforts of governments and civil society.
The main problem of child labour however is that most children are trapped into it. This is done by parents who force their children to work long hours for little pay. This is usually in exchange for the children’s compliance to household chores. Though some countries have legal provisions for child labour, in many developing countries this is the normal practice. Thankfully, the awareness of children being exploited for profit has led to improvements in this practice today, which is why the World Day against Child Labour is celebrated today.
Today there are many legal provisions in developed countries that help protect children who are forced to perform unskilled labour. These provisions often relate to minimum wages, penalties for compulsory child attendants and other workers’ compensation. For children who work in the informal sector, there are some labor laws that have been developed to ensure better working conditions for children. Still, in many developing countries, even today, children are made to work in situations where they are made to work for less than their standard salaries.
Despite these improvements in laws against child labour, there are still numerous child labour conditions around the world. One way to fight against this is to raise funds for a child’s schooling. There are a number of ways to make money for this purpose. One popular way is by starting a lemonade stand or selling tea parties to raise funds for a child to go to school.
As you might have guessed, a lemonade stand is something that you can do by yourself. All that you need is to buy the lemons, keep them fresh and turn them over time to earn money. For children who are willing to sell lemonade, this is an ideal job that can help them earn money for their families. If you are able to set up a table outside your home and keep the children working for you, then you can easily collect a few dollars for every child that you feed for a few hours. Of course, it will not be easy – but you can surely see it as a good opportunity to help the younger generation as well.
If you want to take this activity to the next level, then you can organize a lemonade party inside your home. Just like a traditional lemonade stand, there are a couple of things that you will need to prepare before setting up. First of all, you will need to purchase the ingredients and keep them in a cupboard. Then, all you will have to do is to let the children sell the lemonade outside on the lemonade stand. Your effort will be rewarded as the money they earn will go towards paying for their school fees. And when the event is over, you can give each child a certificate listing their earnings.
The success of this activity will depend on how much support and sponsorship you can get from your community. To ensure maximum participation, you should encourage your friends and family members to join in the activity. You can use World Day Against Child Labour to start a conversation about child labor. And if you want to make the event more memorable, why not organize some competitions between the local kids and the adults so that they can show off their talents?
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