Child Labor in Supply Chains

CHILD LABOR IN SUPPLY CHAINS
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Word Count: 1142 words
Child Labor in Supply Chains
Introduction
Child labor is one of the main issues facing supply chains worldwide, especially in developing countries. Although major steps have been taken to reduce the number of children working full time, many are still exposed to work environments where their health and safety are threatened (Cho et al., 2019). Therefore, organizations across the world aim to ban child labor in every nation. However, this action will have its advantages and disadvantages. This paper will compare the arguments for banning and against banning all child labor in the supply chains across the world.
Arguments For Banning Child Labor
One of the main reasons child labor should be banned in every supply chain is that it hinders children from achieving their full academic potential. The children have to work for long hours at a time when they should be in school. Other children find it challenging to maneuver in the school environment after working and getting money. These children will prefer making money to studying. Therefore, child labor should be banned to allow every child an opportunity to pursue their academic goals. When a child pursues their academic goals, they are likely to get better-paying jobs in the future.
Child labor should also be banned because it endangers the health of the involved children. A substantial number of children work in hazardous environments, which puts the child at the risk of becoming ill or getting injured (Khan et al., 2021). The children also have a less chance of receiving quality medical care and, therefore, would become a burden to the family and, in some cases, be unable to achieve their academic and careers goals. Many child labor cases can be witnessed in developing countries that have a low quality of medical care. This means that the children's health is at a huge risk as they get exposed to the work environment. Therefore, child labor should be banned to facilitate good health for all children in different parts of the world.
Child labor also affects mental health, yet the child is in their early developmental stages. A negative impact on a child's psychological development can have a huge impact on their adult life. The traumatic work conditions involved in child labor can have a lot of negative impacts on the child's mental welling and therefore, child labor needs to be banned at all costs. Child abuse is a common factor in many supply chains where the children are forced to work for long hours with little or no pay. The children might also be exposed to sexual abuse, a factor that could negatively impact their psychological development (Johnson Jr, Beraldi, Broecker, Brown and Maslow, 2018). Therefore, child labor needs to be banned to protect children's mental health and prevent the possibility of lifelong mental damage.
Banning child labor would play an important role in solving the problems that cause child labor. One of the main reasons why children engage in child labor is poverty. If children are not allowed to work, the government will get a clear picture of the poverty levels in the country. This could make it easy for it to strategize how to reduce poverty to avoid...