Today, our nation is plagued by the menace known as child labour. Children are stripped of their childhood, and sent to work in grueling sweatshops and factories across the nation. Instead of going to class and gaining an education, children work themselves to the bone for reasons they do not understand. Instead of making friends and carelessly running around in juvenile bliss, these children bruise and bleed for the heartless animals who force them to work.
Going hand in hand with the employers are the parents who force their weak and voiceless children into work, only to snatch their hard-earned wages for their own gain. This brings into question the entire society we live in, including the current laws on guardianship of children, and their enforcement by the masses.
Over the course of the COVID 19 pandemic, child labor grew at an exponential rate, while authorities had their hands full trying to mitigate the effects of the virus, shuttered schools coupled with crippling economies means more children are driven into the workforce.
It should come as no shock that while child labor is a foul field, it has irrefutable impacts on economies such as Pakistan. The disturbing part is that due to its unpoliced nature, children incarcerated in this vicious world will undoubtedly be pushed into hazardous work environments, such in the burning heat of brick kilns.
In continuum, the unregulated essence of child labor directly contributes to rising health risks across the world. Initially, children incur wounds and cuts, from operating equipment neither designed for nor intended from them. The number of asthmatics increase as young and sensitive lungs succumb to the black smoke of factories. Diseases like leukemia can develop from early exposure to harmful chemicals. On a similar note, this kind of stress and emotional volatility at such a young age can lead to depression, anxiety and other ills later on.
But there is still hope. Governments and their people must work hand in hand to eradicate this evil. On the institutional side, constant policing and regulatory checks are being made to find and catch the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity. It is also the job of each individual citizen to take responsibility and help save the society they live in. Only by banding together for the greater good will we be able to finally put an end to child labor.
MUHAMMAD HAAD
LAHORE
