21st Century Child Labor Eye Opener

Today in class we had a Socratic seminar on child labor today. I thought I said a few interesting points and here's what they consisted of. First I said that I was very surprised at how young the children involved in child labor actually were, the fact that these kids were as young as 5 and 6 was ridiculous! I also talked about some of the worst forms of child labor that people sometimes forget about such as prostitution and drug trafficking. That was one of the obvious reasons NOT to support child labor. But, the only thing I did say defending child labor was that some of these kids are volunteering to work without considering the safety precautions because they have to work to provide for there families! Other than what I said there were many points said that I hadn't realized.

Some things I hadn't thought about were also said about child labor during our Socratic seminar. Like how Sam R said that although some children have to work to provide for their families, she wouldn't call that volunteering because their situation forces them to have to work. Which I thought was a great point. I also heard David D say that he didn't realize how serious child abuse was in the United States, he thought it was only a problem in other countries. I also didn't realize how bad child abuse still is here in the U.S.. One last thing I heard that really stuck out to me was when Meghan B said that she agreed that a lot of people involved in child labor are bringing home a paycheck, but what about the orphans who don't have anyone making sure they get paid and are treated right. Kids should not be allowed to be working in those dangerous conditions.

As a group I think we did a great job with keeping the conversation alive and never running out of ideas. I also think that everyone did a great job with speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. Although we did have some areas to work on. I think our group relied a bit too much on Mrs. Gleasons questions instead of generating our own. Another area some people needed to improve on was sharing their thoughts. It seemed like the same few kids had to keep keeping the conversation alive. Other than those few chinks I think we had a great discussion!