You walk into the Disney store with your younger sister and it is like a land of magic for her. It’s her birthday, so you tell her that she can pick out a gift for herself. As you are strolling down the Disney princess aisle and the Mickey Mouse aisle, she runs up to you and says she wants the Minnie Mouse toy. Without a question the two of you make your way to the checkout line. While your younger sister is overjoyed with her new Minnie Mouse toy, the children in developing countries are suffering just by producing that toy.
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Many companies throughout the world use child labor to make their products, which is a very repulsive thought to many individuals. These children are prevented from having a real childhood. However, the …show more content…
No one really thinks about the real story behind the making of the product that is being bought. It could be a 14-year-old child who made the Mickey Mouse toy you leave by your bedside or the Disneyland sweater you are gifting your younger cousin for Christmas. While Western consumers “…worry about exposing their children to Chinese-made toys coated in lead [or any other harmful chemicals], Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards” (Barboza). These children work long hours and come face to face with these harmful chemicals on a daily basis, without even knowing the side effects that come along with it. The numerous negative effects on their health hinder both their physical and intellectual development. They can’t go to school and consequently doesn’t have the same opportunities as other children. This would lead them to become illiterate adults who would not have the means to provide for their children, leading to a snowball effect in developing countries. All the working children really want is to make enough money for their family to survive another day with a small meal. The conditions these children are in are far more extreme than people will ever know. It was found in a study that “...factory workers [in China] lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year” (Barboza). This can be a life-changing incident, which can lead to the …show more content…
This would decrease the demand for such products. Instead, people should support and praise brands that contribute to free child labor. For example, there are fair trade movements, such as Handcrafting Justice, that encourage people to buy products that ensure fair wages for the people who make them. While we may know that “…iPads come from China, our raspberries from Chile, and our T-shirts from Bangladesh…the people working to produce these products often are subjected to unjust wages and conditions. These injustices continue to exist because we don 't have the time or the resources to trace the supply chain for every purchase we make” (“Handcrafting Justice”). This is why the fair trade logo on various packaged goods, such as coffees and teas, are allowing consumers to know that they are purchasing a good that is fairly compensated for. By doing so, it also promoted human dignity, giving credit to those who are producing the product. Moreover, by following fair trade standards, it is “…designed to tackle poverty and empower producers in the poorest countries in the world” (“Standards”). These standards would apply to both producers and traders, and there are requirements that need to be met before the producers can be certified. This will also helps companies shift towards fair trade knowing
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Many companies throughout the world use child labor to make their products, which is a very repulsive thought to many individuals. These children are prevented from having a real childhood. However, the …show more content…
No one really thinks about the real story behind the making of the product that is being bought. It could be a 14-year-old child who made the Mickey Mouse toy you leave by your bedside or the Disneyland sweater you are gifting your younger cousin for Christmas. While Western consumers “…worry about exposing their children to Chinese-made toys coated in lead [or any other harmful chemicals], Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards” (Barboza). These children work long hours and come face to face with these harmful chemicals on a daily basis, without even knowing the side effects that come along with it. The numerous negative effects on their health hinder both their physical and intellectual development. They can’t go to school and consequently doesn’t have the same opportunities as other children. This would lead them to become illiterate adults who would not have the means to provide for their children, leading to a snowball effect in developing countries. All the working children really want is to make enough money for their family to survive another day with a small meal. The conditions these children are in are far more extreme than people will ever know. It was found in a study that “...factory workers [in China] lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year” (Barboza). This can be a life-changing incident, which can lead to the …show more content…
This would decrease the demand for such products. Instead, people should support and praise brands that contribute to free child labor. For example, there are fair trade movements, such as Handcrafting Justice, that encourage people to buy products that ensure fair wages for the people who make them. While we may know that “…iPads come from China, our raspberries from Chile, and our T-shirts from Bangladesh…the people working to produce these products often are subjected to unjust wages and conditions. These injustices continue to exist because we don 't have the time or the resources to trace the supply chain for every purchase we make” (“Handcrafting Justice”). This is why the fair trade logo on various packaged goods, such as coffees and teas, are allowing consumers to know that they are purchasing a good that is fairly compensated for. By doing so, it also promoted human dignity, giving credit to those who are producing the product. Moreover, by following fair trade standards, it is “…designed to tackle poverty and empower producers in the poorest countries in the world” (“Standards”). These standards would apply to both producers and traders, and there are requirements that need to be met before the producers can be certified. This will also helps companies shift towards fair trade knowing