Children At Work

Most of the time, people have to be at least 14 to work. Even 15-year-olds can only work a certain number of hours a week. But as it ends up, children as young as 10 are working for Gap in India. A reporter for a British newspaper asked one of the boys working there how they were punished, and the boy replied that he had an oily rag shoved into his mouth after he tried to escape. He also said that it was not unusual to be beaten or hit by the shop runners. The president of Gap North America was horrified to hear about these children working for the company. The contract with this subcontractor was cut off because of this awful turn of circumstances. The president says that she feels violated because of the unwise decision that the subcontractor and vendor made to make these children work for no pay.

I think that it is terrible that these poor children are being forced to work for no money. I don't like working even thought i get paid fairly and am not forced to work. I feel bad for the children who are in sweatshops because their lives are being taken away from them. It was written in this article that it is not unusual to have clothes that were made by children from other countries. I think it is awful to hear about. Children shouldn't have to work when they are 10, they should be able to choose a job for themselves when they are older. It's not fair that these children are being forced to work and I hope that more and more sweatshops are exposed and stopped until there are no more.

This article was written on October 30, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/studentnews/10/29/sn.transcript.tue/index.html#cnnSTCText

Video Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/studentnews/10/29/sn.transcript.tue/index.html#cnnSTCVideo