Child labour and its impact on childhood and child health Essay

Child labour and its impact on childhood and child health - Essay Example The study â€Å"Child labour and its impact on childhood and child health† examines the issue of child labour on a global scale. According to the International Labour Organization, approximately 215 million children worldwide are employed as full time labour with little or no access to education and play. They have no access to proper nutrition or care and are essentially, deprived of their right to childhood. A significant number of these children live in third world countries, where the children are exposed to hazardous environments, which are deemed to be detrimental for their physical and mental health. According to estimates, almost 14 per cent of the world's children under the age of 18 are engaged in active employment. This proportion is higher in third world countries such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Yemen. The interest in child labour issues has increased significantly over the recent decades indicating the gravity of the issue and its far reaching impacts on the children globally. Research indicates that the environmental conditions of workplaces play a key role in the health and well-being of the workers. Children are far more vulnerable to ill-health if made to work in extreme conditions, as compared to adults. Research suggests that due to anatomical differences between the children and adults, child workers are relatively more vulnerable to occupational health hazards. Constant exposure to carcinogens is known to cause cancer among children as compared to adults with similar amounts of exposure.... For instance, constant exposure to carcinogens is known to cause cancer among children as compared to adults with similar amounts of exposure. Furthermore children are prone to occupational injuries at work places as compared to adults, since they experience more fatigue and stress and have less knowledge and poor judgement than adults. Also, they are often made to work with tools which are mainly designed for adults thus making it difficult for them to handle them effectively (Bekele & Meyers, 1995). Furthermore child labour diversely affects the children’s education, and robs them of their basic right to rest, play, and leisure. Involvement of children in hazardous occupations at an early age may lead to serious health consequences affecting their physical as well as mental development. It may even lead to irreversible damage resulting in permanent disability (Hindman, 2009). According to WHO almost 111 million children under the age of 15 are involved in hazardous work whic h includes environments with high levels of chemicals, noise, and ergonomic risks such as lifting heavy loads etc. It also includes longer durations of work, night work, and work environments which may lead to physical and sexual harassment (WHO, 2012). It is argued that children in full time employment and forced to work for long hours are deprived of their right to leisure (Hobbs, McKechnie, and Lavalette, 1999; Haspels & Jankanish, 2000) thus resulting in emotional and psychological stress (Tienda & Wilson, 2002). Some researchers have observed that children are often paid a meagre amount for the same amount of work done by their adult peers. Furthermore child

Science Technology & Innovation Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Science Technology & Innovation Systems - Essay Example The research on the existing literature and the reports focusing on the particular subject led to the conclusion that the disadvantages of GM crops are more than their advantages – at such level that the use of these crops for covering the daily needs in food to be questioned. The potential effects of the expansion of such crops should be further examined; alternative practices for increasing the food stock worldwide would be necessary. 2. Genetically Modified crops – advantages and disadvantages The role of GM crops as part of food chain worldwide need to be carefully reviewed – taking into consideration the relationship between food and health; also, in terms of the environment, the potential implications of GM crops should be explored. The existence of strong oppositions regarding the expansion of GM crops leads to the assumption that the intervention of biology in food production has not been as successful as believed by the GM crops initiators. A fact that f urther increase the worries regarding the development of GM crops is the lack of effective rules for their regulation – as explained below. ... The advantages and disadvantages of GM crops are analytically presented in the sections that follow; reference is made to the effects of GM crops on three specific sectors: health, environment and law. 2.1 Genetically Modified crops and health The main reason for the development of GM crops has been the increased need for food in countries worldwide; the crops of this type are able to offer a high level of production – compared to the conventional crops – a fact that is considered as their main advantage. Another characteristics of the GM crops – in terms of health – is their ability to be altered – enriched with vitamins and other valuable nutritional elements – leading to the increased benefits for health (McKie 2011). An indicative example is the ‘golden rice’ (see Figure 1, Appendix) which has been considered as an important means for offering to the population of poor countries food enriched in Vitamin A – increasing their strength towards diseases which are caused by the lack of the specific Vitamin. In fact, the research on the effects of poor nutrition – in terms of nutritional elements – on human health has proved that food which is poor in certain vitamins can cause severe problems of health (Bionet, 2002); in poor countries, a direct relationship of lack of vitamins and blindness has been proved; this problem has been addressed using the golden rice which is enriched with Vitamin A (Bionet, 2002). However, GM food can also hide severe risks for human health; in fact, it is noted that the exact consequences of GM food on human health have not been precisely identified (Human Genome Project, 2008); however, effects like ‘allergens and transfer of