Child Labor
Child Labor is a contemporary moral issue in the community, child labor identifies with employment of persons perceived as children, often below eighteen years or stipulated legal age depending on jurisdictions; the work deprives the child’s attendance of school in a way that it is physically, mentally, morally and socially harmful and dangerous (Gifford 11). International organizations term child labor as exploitation of the minors in the society. Diverse legislations are against child labor. Child labor is particularly common in developing nations and in the least developed nations, in the sense that such nations are characterized with poor schooling rates and high poverty. Children are used by their guardians and parents in supplementing the family income, which is against the law, and a model referred to as child labor (Gifford 23).
Utilitarian philosophy as put forward by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill argued that child labor is partially supported by the theory, in that people have collective behaviors in generating collective happiness in the family setups (Mill 3). It is argued that child labor results to a certain percentage of happiness to the family, where the family income in boasted to some degrees. Besides boasting the family income, child labor actually has a share of negative attributes on the part of the child. It has been noted that child labor hinders children from attending schools and also stops children from enjoying their childhood life, in the sense that the children are introduced to adult life responsibilities immaturely (Mufford 19).
Further surveys has shown that child labor has the ability of generating to disenfranchised class of citizens that are ignorant, such individuals ends up very useless in the community. This is an indication that utilitarian philosophy does not support child labor on the other hand, since the demerits of the practice supersede the merits of the illegal practice (Mill 7).
Child labor can be considered as ‘evil’, reflecting on religious moral concept, this is more like the utilitarianism model that relies on pleasure concept (Mill 5). It is argued that diverse things has the capability of generating ‘happiness’, an attribute that suggests that pleasure is valuable, but satisfaction is shaped by sharing with other people, serving the community, having a family and enjoying ones work among other models. People are different and perceive things differently.
Utilitarianism is critiqued on the basis of defining ‘good’ through the eyes of ‘happiness’, which is aesthetic and hedonic concept (Mill 2); in the sense that the standard of behaviors are defined in relation to aesthetic and hedonic approaches in replacing the prudential and ethical standards. Utilitarianism is supported by Mill and Bentham as a model of defining the moral concepts depending on the situations (Mill 8). The consequentialism of child labor as observed in the lens of utilitarianism is argued along the massive negative attributes that the children face in life after growing up (Ord 44). The ending of child labor fails to justify the importance of the practice.
Consequentialism on moral theories judges situations depending on the actions (Ord 11); it is argued that child labor under this context is illegal basing on the negative consequences and outcomes of the practice. The rightness of child labor is questioned by the consequences of the practice (Mufford 32). Child labor dates back to millions of years, industrial revolution was characterized with children of under four years being used in factories characterized as fatal, dangerous and of poor working conditions. Child labor in the twenty first century is a violation of the human rights (Gifford 37).
Works Cited
Gifford, Clive. Child Labour (Voices). London: Evans Brothers Ltd, 2009.
Mill, John Stuart. “What Utilitarianism Is.” Utilitarianism (2003): 1-8.
Mufford, Juliet H. Child Labor in America. New York: History Compass, 2000.
Ord, Toby. “Consequentialism and Decision Procedures.” University of Oxford (2005): 2-53.