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AUTHOR Myers, William; Boyden, Jo TITLE : Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children. Second Edition. INSTITUTION Save the Children, London (England). ISBN ISBN-2-940217-06-8 PUB DATE 1998-11-00 NOTE 28p. PUB TYPE Opinion Papers (120) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Child Development; *Child Labor; *Children; Childrens Rights; Educational Change; ; Foreign Countries; Government Role; Individual Development; *Labor Legislation; *Public Policy; Resilience (Personality); Work Attitudes IDENTIFIERS Adult Child Relationship

ABSTRACT In an effort to stimulate discussion and provide a tool for policymakers and practitioners in developing effective child-centered programs that protect children from hazardous andexploitative labor, this paper examines ways in which work can contribute to, aswell as harm, children's development; it also aims to provide a conceptual framework for assessing whether work is helpful or harmful to children. The paper explains how involving working children themselves in policy and action to address their problems results in more effective action and contributes to children's development. Noting that treating working children as intelligent and resourceful, and developing solutions in conjunction with them, may strengthen their psychological development and ability to cope with difficulties, the paper maintains that child-centered action on child labor requires concerted action by governments to address poverty, provide quality education, and implement protecting children from abuse. Such action also requires public awareness-raising and changing attitudes so that employers and parents match children's responsibilities with their capacities; so that policymakers, practitioners, and consumers differentiate between developmental and harmful work; and so that working children's views are solicited and used. The paper concludes with a range ofpractical ways to ensure that any work that children do is safe and healthy for themand promotes their development. These include specific measures that employers can take, an enhanced role for trade unions in ensuringthat children of legal working age are protected in the workplace, and suggestions for educational changes to increase its effectiveness for and relevance for working children.(KB)

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William Myers and Jo Boyden

*Savethe Children

3 Published by International Save the Children Alliance King Street London W6 UK

First published May 1998 Revised and updated edition published November 1998

© International Save the Children Alliance 1998

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission, and a fee may be payable.

ISBN 2-940217-06-8 2nd edition ISBN 2-940217-03-3 1st edition

Cover design: Anne Moritz Page design: Neil Adams Cover photo: Dario Mitidieri Printed by Copyprint (UK) Ltd

4 FOREWORD This paper explains how involving working children themselves in policy and action to address their There is a fast growing international consensus that the problems not only results in more effective action that most hazardous and exploitative forms of child labour is sensitive to local context, but also can contribute to should be the top priority for action. Most recently, the children's development itself. By treating working ILO has proposed a new convention designed children as intelligent, resourceful people, rather than specifically to focus more forceful attention on child as deviants and victims, and by developing solutions , exposure to great physical hazard and other to their problems in conjunction with them, their extreme forms of child labour. International psychological development and ability to cope with conventions of this type set a legal framework for difficulties may be strengthened. addressing priority problems. Their effective implementation depends on several factors, including: Child-centred action on child labour will not happen in political will; adequate resources; accurate criteria for a vacuum. It requires concerted action by governments identifying abusive situations; and effective action to to address poverty, provide good quality education address both causes and consequences of child labour. and to implement laws protecting children from abuse. This paper addresses the latter two issues, arguing that It also requires public awareness-raising and changing a child-centred approach, focusing on the needs and attitudes throughout societies, so that employers and capacities of working children, will promote their best parents match children's responsibilities with their interests in a way that conventional approaches, capacities; so that policy-makers, practitioners and aiming primarily to keep children out of the workplace, consumers differentiate between developmental and do not. harmful work; and so that working children's views are solicited and used to inform action along with those of The paper is intended to contribute to the development other stakeholders, rather than ignored. and mainstreaming of a child-centred approach in policy and action on child labour. The authors, The paper concludes with a range of practical ways to William Myers and Jo Boyden, explore what it means ensure that any work that children do is safe and to promote "the best interests of the child", a key healthy for them and promotes their development. principle of the UN Convention on the Rights of the These include specific measures that employers can Child. They draw on recent social science research take, an enhanced role for trade unions in ensuring to examine the different ways in which work can that children of legal working age are protected in the contribute to, as well as harm, children's development. workplace, and suggestions for changes in education By focusing on the implications of work for children's to increase its effectiveness for and relevance to development, the paper aims to provide a conceptual working children. framework for assessing whether work is helpful or harmful to children, and thus for designing It is intended that this paper will stimulate discussion interventions accordingly. A key aspect of this is to and provide a tool for policy-makers and practitioners analyse specific situations carefully, rather than in developing effective child-centred programmes which assuming that particular forms of work are detrimental protect children from hazardous and exploitative forms or beneficial to children's development. of child labour, and enable other forms of work to contribute to their development and well-being.

International Save the Children Alliance

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3 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children INTRODUCTION attendance up to a stipulated age are not producing the expected benefits to children. First of all, these In all actions concerning children, whether measures are not keeping children out of the labour undertaken by public or private social welfare market, or even out of jobs prohibited by , except in institutions, courts of law, administrative some portions of the formal sector. Second, they have authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests not proved to he very effective at keeping children in of the child shall be a primary consideration. school; other incentives and disincentives turn out to be Article 3, the Convention on the Rights of the C'hild far more influential in determining school enrolment and attendance. Third, and perhaps most importantly, By ratifying the United Nations Convention on the it is not at all clear that, even if they had their intended Rights of the Child (CRC), almost every country in the effect of eliminating most child work and ensuring world has accepted that this fundamental principle, school attendance, the result would be beneficial for the hest interests of the child, should guide its policies all children. Work of the right kind can he beneficial and activities in regards to children. It is so obvious for children, and some schools are so discouraging or that action to protect children should he in their best oppressive that they actually do harm to their students. interest that this clause could appear to be unnecessary. However, it was included because the treaty's drafters Traditional approaches have been shown to work were aware that even measures specifically intended for poorly not only in developing regions, but also in the the benefit of children often fail to explicitly consider rich nations which invented and exported them to the what is best for them. It is in fact common for legal, rest of the world. In countries such as Britain and economic and other claims of adults to take precedence the a significant proportion of children when deciding what should be done for children continue to work unprotected, often illegally, and requiring protection. When this happens, children may sometimes in activities which present a serious threat to become victims rather than beneficiaries of measures their health and well-being.' The rich countries are supposedly intended to assist them. This problem has nevertheless those who have most insisted that these been widely recognized in diverse legal matters such as same approaches be applied in developing countries. the custody of children in the wake of divorce, the In some cases these measures have been imposed in sentencing of young offenders, and the handling of counterproductive ways that actually worsen the committed by family members. situation of working children they are intended to protect. For example, in Bangladesh and , A similar situation exists in regard to children's work, forcing children out of factory work without providing which in recent years has become a highly visible child their families with viable economic alternatives has in rights issue of major concern to governments, child many cases had the effect of increasing family poverty defense groups, and employer associations, and leaving children even more vulnerable. Moreover, international organizations and, in many places, the many children have ended up not in school, but in jobs public at large. Seldom before has child work been so far more hazardous than those they held originally.3 much the focus of international interest. However, just Such distortions come from treating child work too as this concern has intensified, new research narrowly as a just a labour-market issue, or perhaps a including in Europe and North Americasuggests that school attendance or public safety problem, when in the laws, policies and activities most typically employed fact it should be regarded far more broadly as a matter to guard against child abuse and exploitation in the of children's development and relationship to society. workplace do not effectively protect most children.' Conventional approaches are not always helpful for Unfortunately, traditional interventions such as maintaining a proper sense of priorities. Since human minimum age laws, public sector inspection of and financial resources are not adequate to extend full workplaces and labour practices, control of children's effective protection to all children at once, the key work through work permits, and compulsory school question is which children merit special protective

4 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children attention. By common sense, severe violations of hazardous and exploitative work receive first priority, children's rights should he at the top of action priorities others are not needlessly thrown out of work and and among the first to receive protective assistance all children have access to education, will require from government and civil society organizations. educating the public, including in rich countries. It will Indeed, some children are engaged in work that is also be necessary to replace a narrow view of child so life-threatening, demeaning, or damaging to their work as a labour exploitation issue with a broader well-being and development that their situation calls appreciation of it as a critical influence on the growth out for urgent action. But it is now clear that children and development of perhaps most of the world's toiling in the very worst of conditions tend to receive children. relatively little protective assistance, while most world attention and most legal and other protective action is focused on the small minority of children who work in A NEW CHILD-CENTRED APPROACH the urban formal sector, and who are for the most part far better off. Furthermore, most international concern What is required is a more promising vision of the has lately centred on child workers in developing relationship between children and work, a different country industries that manufacture goods for export to approach posing new questions that open the way to rich countries. This group is very smallby most more effective protection of working children's hest estimates well under five per cent of working children interests. Such an alternative does in fact exist, and it is and generally not in the more detrimental types of attracting attention from many who believe that work. This reversal of proper priorities needs to children's best interests should be the first and central be remedied. concern of all policies and programmes concerned with children's work. The ideas behind this approach are The limitations and failures of the conventional being generated mainly by child rights advocates and approach to children's work have been widely noted grass roots practitioners working with working children and recognized. The operational issue is what to do in the South and by psychologists, economists and about them. Some push for increased political and other social scientists in the North with an interest in efforts to make conventional policies work as hoped; developing measures that better respond to working others suggest that new concepts and strategies must children's problems and needs. be adopted. It seems increasingly clear that merely tightening up current policy or programme planning This new approach is rigorously child-centred, taking and implementation would not make a significant as its point of departure the child, how the child difference, for the problem stems as much from experiences work, and what the child needs to thrive misguided ideas as from inappropriate practice. Behind and develop. It judges the appropriateness of work, failed policies and practices one often can discern basic and of interventions in work, according to their conceptual faults in understanding children and the verifiable effects on children. Its cardinal rule is that all significance of their work, in diagnosing problematic children be treated with full respect for their rights, situations, and in defining the objectives and strategies opinions, potential and individuality. In the specific of action. Nor would it be helpful to simply mobilize case of working children, it begins from a position of more public will and resources against child labour if respect for their persons, for the contribution they make they are to be invested only in expanding what already to their families and communities, and for their right has proved inadequate to the task. and capacity to shape their own lives. It arrives at decisions about children's work, and what should be Accumulating evidence at this time suggests that new done about their work, by starting with an in-depth concepts are required at least to complement the consideration of the children involved. It develops a traditional approach to child work, and perhaps to response to children's work problems in collaboration replace it altogether. Achieving change in policy and with the children and on the basis of what is hest practice so that the children involved in the most for them. 7

5 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children This perspective differs substantially from the more unique knowledge and opinions about their situation traditional one, which is more likely to be triggered by that must be taken into consideration if measures to concern about child participation in adult labour protect them are to succeed. Partly for that reason, and markets and to take its action cues from national laws, partly to conform with requirements of the CRC, business operating policies and other frames of working children and their own organizations have reference external to the needs of the children involved. recently begun to be more widely included in local and, Starting out by inquiring who working children are and to a lesser extent, national and international processes what they need emphasizes different issues than does that advocate or develop policies and programmes to the question of whether children working conforms to protect children against workplace abuse and social expectations. Importantly, it also makes it exploitation. possible to identify and prioritize work that is exploitative or hazardous for children and therefore While this short paper cannot convey the wealth of more fully expresses the intent of the CRC. new experience, information and ideas emerging from child-centred views of children's work, it is possible to A number of factors contribute to the emerging identify a few of the insights and principles that are enthusiasm for a child-centred approach to child work most fundamental. Beginning action with these issues. One, already mentioned, is the growing considerations can help steer policy makers, influence of the CRC on both national and international programme planners and children's advocates into ideas about protecting children. Even where its letter is channels of thought and activity that reflect children's not implemented, the spirit of the CRC often holds realities and best interests. sway, especially its insistence on the primacy of children's best interests. A second important cause is the expanding quantity and quality of empirical UNDERSTANDING WORK IN CHILDREN'S LIVES information about child work and working children. This new information increasingly challenges popular A child-centred approach begins by carefully studying assumptions and misconceptions that have long the specifics of children's work. The first question it afflicted the conventional wisdom and are responsible asks is: "What role does work play in the lives of for many of its failures. New insights arise from fresh different groups of children, and what are its positive questioning, and research and experience are now and negative effects on them?" This question starts from expanding our understanding of what makes children the realization, strongly supported by children's own vulnerable and are indicating principles and strategies testimony and by recent studies of working children," that seem to lead toward their successful protection. that work is typically either healthy or harmful to Some surprising findings from child-focused studies are children according to its context and conditions, and it changing old assumptions about why children work, recognizes that the same kind of work may have very the effects of work on children, and the impact of different effects on different children. Girls and boys, different protection strategies on different groups of for example, or younger and older children, may children. Some of the more important studies are so experience work in very different ways, as may children new that they are only now being published, or are still from different cultural or familial contexts. Work that is in the process of preparation.' harmless or beneficial to some children may be harmful to others. In most cases, therefore, the key issue in the Working children themselves are a third, quickly protection of children is not the fact that children growing, influence on thinking about child work. engage in work, but the nature of their work situation, In a few countries their influence has been felt for a how work affects them, and how it relates to other decade or more, but in most places working children's aspects of their lives, especially family life. It is essential participation in public discussion of child work is still a to understand thoroughly the meaning of work for riovelty. However, it is increasingly clear that working children, and its advantages and disadvantages for children's views cannot be taken for granted; they have them, before intervening in it. This information not

6 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children 8 only indicates whether action is required, but also is too vague to be much of a guide to action until it can suggests the points and means of intervention that be grounded in solid indicators applicable to real-life are most effective for protecting working children's situations. CRC Article 32, which deals specifically with hest interests. child work, can be helpful in generating useful indicators, by tying them to children's well-being and The role of work in children's lives is often complex development. It provides for and ambiguous, commonly having both positive and "the right of the child to be protected from economic negative effects. It may, for example, secure the family's exploitation and from pedbrining any work that is and the child'ssurvival but at the same time pose a likely to he hazardous or to interfrre with the threat to the child's education. Children may regard education, or to he harinjUl to the child's health or work as a burden of necessity owing to poverty, and physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social yet value it as a learning experience and a chance to development." gain family and self esteem. Even though many children are bound to soul-killing drudgery that may be By inference, work detrimental to children's education, demeaning and dangerous as well, the data also health or physical and psychosocial development indicate that many children work because they want to. would, by CRC standards, be inconsistent with their Some do it for spending money, others because they best interests. On the other hand, work which promotes like the excitement and companionship it offers, and their welfare and development could be considered still others because they value the learning experiences consistent with their best interests. Without denying the it affords. Girls often say that work offers them a way occasional exception, it is difficult to imagine seriously out of oppressively traditional homes and into the more harmful work generally being in children's best modern lifestyles they wish to adopt. It is impressive interests, or developmentally beneficial work violating how many developing country children express them. If one accepts this rule of thumb, the next pleasure in being able to assist their families through question is a methodological one: how to go about their work, a sentiment rarely found among working assessing work to determine its impact on children's children in rich countries. The point is that work has well-being and development. We will consider that many roles in the lives of children, and the popular issue separately for children's physical and psychosocial assumption that most children, even poor children, are development. but passive victims of poverty forced to work purely out of necessity is not born out by the reality. And, of course, poverty can hardly be the explanation in rich ASSESSING THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF countries where working children and adolescents are CHILDREN'S WORK overwhelmingly from the middle class rather than the poor. A child-centred approach recognizes the diversity Current knowledge ahout the influence of work on the of meanings that work may have in children's lives, and health and physical development of children is fairly tailors its interventions to fit the situation. That is why it advanced, but it is also uneven. Some forms of impact starts out by ascertaining the often complex have been carefully researched while others, equally or relationships between children's work and their more important, have been poorly covered at best.8 education, family acceptance, food intake, self-esteem, On the positive side, we can at least identify many of health, rest, play and other important aspects of their the physical dangers that children confront in a number lives. Children's best interests are inextricably connected of the more risky occupations and working conditions, to the specifics of their situation. and the tools for making health and safety risk assessments are for the most part readily available in But understanding the nature and social context of the medical community. Practical technology exists to children's work does not all by itself reveal where the appraise work environments and conduct clinical tests best interests of children lie. The abstract concept of on child workers in such a way as to accurately `children's best interests', as it is presented in the CRC, determine the threats to health and physical safety that

7 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children they face. Such studies usually can be clone with between the work and the physical development of medical expertise available even in the poorer children should not hinder taking action to address countries. particular work situations already known to he detrimental to children's safety, health and physical To date, most health and safety research has focused on development. It is not necessary to know ahout occupations and working conditions already thought everything in order to start acting on what is already likely to pose serious risks to children. These include, well understood. for example, hazardous activities involving toxic chemicals, molten metals or glass, very heavy burdens, dangerous machinely or exposure to serious diseases.' ASSESSING THE PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS OF As would be expected, most of these studies associate CHILDREN'S WORK work with deleterious health effects, although surprisingly some of the particular effects identified had Often the impact of work on children's mental and been previously unsuspected. Also surprisingly, in social development is more pronounced than its effects certain cases the health, nutrition or general physical on their physical growth. Psychosocial effects from development of some working children in physically children's work can be severely disabling, but they also stressful work circumstances have been found can be broadly empowering. Some occupations that do unexpectedly normal, or even superior to that of peers not seem very dangerous for children from a purely who do not work or who work in different physical point of view may look quite different when occupations.'° The lesson is to make no assumptions, to the psychosocial effects are taken into consideration collect field data, and to look for both negative and this has been much observed about domestic service, positive effects, short and long term. It is also necessary for example. By the same token, work that carries to discriminate carefully between the short and long some physical risks may in certain cases strengthen term effects of child work and degrees of risk or psychological and educational growth. This raises severity. Exposure to risk is not the same as actual thorny issues about how to balance negative and effects, nor is a skin rash of the same importance as positive aspects of children's work when both are life-threatening infections or the loss of limb. presentan extremely common occurrence. Especially when education issues are considered, it comes as no Although we do have a fair and improving surprise that many experts have concluded that, in a understanding of health risks children incur in certain child-centred perspective on children's work, risky occupations and working conditions, we still do psychosocial development must be an issue at least as not have a very complete picture of the health and important as is physical health and growth. physical development impact of the kind of work in which the vast majority of children are engaged, such Nevertheless, until rather recently the psychosocial as housework and small farm agriculture. This crucial aspects of childrens' work have received relatively little information gap prohibits meaningful generalizations attention. One reason is that they tend to be difficult to about how work most typically affects children's health observe and the tools necessary to discover and analyze and development. Available data simply do not support them are still incompletely developed and disseminated. either the assertion that children who work are more While many medical doctors are able to recognize likely to be sick or malnourished or the opposite claim health and physical development effects of work, that work gives children of the poor improved access to fewer professionals are equipped to diagnose the food and health resources and therefore supports their psychosocial impacts. Work on this problem is under physical development and well-being. Specific case way, but more is needed, especially the development of evidence can be found both for and against each diagnostic instruments suitable for use with children, position, but neither can at this point in time be and training of practitioners in their use. Secondly, sustained as a general rule. I lowever, the fact that we cause-and-effect relationships are not so clear and cannot draw global conclusions about the relationships mechanical in psychological traumas as they are in the

8 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children physical occupational diseases and injuries. Third, Mozambican children are not raised the same way, psychosocial effects are at least in part determined by do not have the same expectations placed on them, cultural and social context, impeding the development and do not have similar experiences of childhood. of globally applicable conceptual models and Nevertheless, people from all cultures tend to presume assessment tools. Fourth, and most important, there has that all children are more or less like their own. long been an almost inexplicable lack of interest in the subject of child work hy those concerned with The second source of the prevailing concepts of children's psychosocial development and well-being. childhood, and one especially influential on educators Children as developing beings simply have not been an and other professionals working with children, is a important concern in the field of occupational health strain of psychological theory arising from research in and safety, nor have development psychologists been the first half of this century. The general thrust of this much interested in children's work, despite the fact that thinking is that child development, including intellectual even school children in poor countries frequently spend and emotional development, is a gradual process of more time in work than in school. maturation through a series of stages toward a fixed end-point (adulthood). Cmcially, each stage builds on Because psychosocial issues are so important but so and is an advancement of the previous one, such that little recognized and addressed in the consideration of failures in development during the early stages child work, it is worth presenting them here in some undermine progress later on in childhood. This process detail. Moreover, there is a telling gap between popular is thought to be universal. An important assumption conceptions of child development and what social is that childhood is a natural phase of the human science has come to understand about how children life-cycle in which biological and psychological factors develop emotionally, intellectually and socially. This is have a more important role to play than social or an important issue because the conventional wisdom, cultural factors. This idea leads to a very particular view rather than scientific understanding, underlies most of children as largely passive in the face of compelling child labour policies and programmes, and this may biological and psychological forces. contribute to the limited effectiveness of traditional approaches. Let us compare prevailing popular ideas In summary, childhood is imagined to he a more or less with the findings of social science. uniform phenomenon in which intrinsic forces of growth act similarly on all children, even though their expression might vary according to culture. This POPULAR CONCEPTS OF CHILD concept of childhood as a relatively uniform universal DEVELOPMENT phenomenon has left a powerful theoretical legacy whose influence has been expressed internationally in Popular notions about childhood and child much thinking about universal child rights and development generally come from two sources. The protection. first is the particular culture of reference, with all its own values, traditions, child-raising customs and It turns out on further examination that this model folklore, mechanisms for the socialization of children contains some hidden assumptions with serious into the community and so forth. All parents are part of consequences for the way we think about children, the particular cultures which influence not only how they work that they do, and the impact of this work on their raise their own children, but also their understanding lives. For one thing, it reflects the European cultural of how people in different cultures raise theirs. This heritage of most of the researchers and their subjects, multi-cultural Earth contains a wide variety of ideas which is not a very representative sample of the overall about what constitutes childhood and child growth and composition and experience of humanity. The children development, and because children are raised under who were the subjects of the most influential studies quite different notions and practices there are in fact were mostly middle-class school children in twentieth many childhoods. Bangladeshi, American and century industrialized countries where children typically

11 9Promoting the Best Interests ot Working Children have relatively little experience of economically for successfully dealing with such situations and their productive work. It was their childhood, one of lives more generally. Certainly children do differ from economic dependence and isolation from the adult adults physically, psychologically, legally and socially: world, that shaped what came to be considered the the CRC makes explicit these distinctions through its developmental norm for all children. As a result, work exclusive focus on children up to the age of 18 as a was taken to be an activity inappropriate for children social group needling special protection. But the treaty anywhere, and the school and the home were accepted also recognizes that children are strong as well as as the only legitimate settings for child socialization. At vulnerable, and that they contribute a good deal to the same time, because growth and development was societies in their own right, not simply in terms of the thought to be shaped by a combination of intrinsic adults they will become. physical forces and the socialization efforts of parents, teachers and other adults, children's own contributions The overall effect of this picture of childhood is to to their development were denied. create a tension between adult obligations to protect children and children's right and ability to participate The idea of a linear pattern of growth and change raised in their own protection and development. Nowhere is the possibility that children whose development does this tension more evident than in the policies and not conform to this pattern are in some way abnormal programmes regarding child work. Another feature of or at risk. Because the developmental norm was based this model is its very particular approach to the on full-time schooling, working children, even those protection of working children, which quite explicitly going to school part time, came to be seen either as juxtaposes education as a positive force for child deviants or victims. The idea that the earliest stages of development and well-being with work, which is taken child development mould development in later stages to be a potential or actual threat. While in many cases has given rise to the notion that particularly stressful this may ring true, it does not reflect the complete and or traumatic events of early childhood will disrupt or more complex reality of children's work and school distort children's later development, often with life-long experiences, or the multiple effects they have on negative effects. Early exposure to hazardous work, for their lives. example, is assumed to result in permanent damage to children's psychological development. The idea of preceding stages determining subsequent ones has also SEEING PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACTS IN A led to a research fixation on infancy and early DIFFERENT LIGHT childhood. One effect of this has been a serious neglect of middle childhood (age six to twelve or so), the Without necessarily denying the existence and critical period in terms of children's work. This means underlying influence of biological forces in growth and that our common understanding of how work affects development, recent thinking in developmental middle childhood development is not well supported by psychology stresses the critical importance of the ways research, and it is sometimes based on conjecture from in which children relate to their families and others in studies of younger children's development which have their social environment." This approach has practically not examined the effects of work. supplanted a universal model because it recognizes and can incorporate the diversity in child development The upshot of these popular notions about work in patterns revealed by more recent research. It also helps relation to child development is that much international focus attention on the social contexts of childhood, policy dialogue and law is based on a model of which is of great importance when considering social childhood which treats children as particularly policy. But this newer understanding is not widely vulnerable, passive objects requiring the special known by educators, policy makers or the general protection of adults. While it is true that in many public because it has not been well disseminated situations children are exposed to considerable danger outside the academic circles that have conducted the and abuse, this model discounts children's capacities research on which it is based.

10 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children 1 2 This approach holds that diversity in childhood is an I lowever, it has also been found that children's sense of expression not of abnormality but of individual, social agency is very sensitive to how they are regarded by and cultural difference. Especially during middle others, particularly adults they deem important, and can childhood and adolescencethe ages during which easily be undermined. This suggests the importance of children are most likely to worknot only do children understanding child development in the context of the from different cultural contexts follow developmental relationship between children and their families, patterns that may be different from those observed in however family is defined. In many societies, work is European and American children, but they may grow one of the most important ways in which children and flourish in circumstances quite distinct from those integrate into their families, gaining family respect and of supposedly "normal" children who live in a nuclear self-esteem as well as essential household or economic family and attend school. Thus, this thinking stresses skills. The point is that children develop through and in that there are many routes and dimensions to children's response to a whole set of family dynamics, which of development. Research has shown that children have course differ greatly between cultures. For children to many abilities and skills, which vary between cultural develop confidence as members of their communities, it contexts and are developed by different means. For is important that families, peers, and community convey example, whereas work is in some places considered to them the expectation that they can and will handle an unnecessary distraction from the main educational their responsibilities successfully and participate in channel (school), in others it is valued as the best valued ways." The expectation that they will not do so, source of essential skills not learned in school. or social disparagement, on the other hand, damages children's resilience. This finding suggests that the The view of children as beings with many and varied psychosocial protection of working children should start capacities suggests that children play a much more by showing them respect as both persons and workers, active role in their own development than had been especially by making space for them to participate in thought. To a surprising extent, development is the solution of their own problems. Its practical policy something that children actively do, not just something and programme implications are enormous, and will be that naturally happens to them as they grow older. taken up again later in this paper. Within the constraints and opportunities of their environment, children play a major role in creating The role and significance of children's work in their the sorts of interactions that help them to develop. development differs greatly according to which cultural Because children are not merely passive recipients of system prevails, and interventions to protect working experience, but active contributors to their own children's best interests need to take this variance into development, they may seek and value work as a account. One particularly important area of cultural source of learning, social acceptance, independence, relativity concerns the ways in which children relate to feelings of accomplishment and self-worth, or other and are dependent upon the division of family personal benefits beyond strictly economic maintenance responsibilities. In societies where family considerations. It is important to note that this active solidarity is essential for children's survival and role of children in their own development has been development, it matters greatly whether a strategy for found to be itself developmental. It fosters children's protecting children's rights reinforces a child's family self-esteem, their capacity for autonomous thinking and ties or loosens them. Conventional approaches to child action, and their social competence more generally.12 labour often have neglected this consideration to Experience of this kind also has powerful protective children's detriment. It also is necessary, however, not qualities that help children survive stress and trauma. to be too simplistically pro-family. In some cases Children whose sense of personal agency is intact children want to work in part to escape from aspects of and functioning are more likely to survive adverse family life they consider oppressive, and indeed in circumstances psychologically unscathed than are more some traditional gender-discriminating cultures, girls passive children who regard themselves as victims. wanting education or a more modern life style have depended on work outside the home to realize these

11 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children aspirations. The point is not that the family is always first and sometimes only line of defence, and it is right, but that it is a crucial reference group in which sensible to enable them to defend themselves as well to understand child development and the role of work as possible. Third, children have a uniquely close and in it. detailed view of their workplace problems, and therefore have essential information and ideas to share. Fourth, The conventional wisdom that trauma and suffering in working children or their families can easily undermine early childhood impairs development takes account policies and programmes they do not trust or agree with, neither of individual differences in children's and virtually no action can effectively protect them temperament, intellectual capacity and emotional against their will. Fifth, the CRC demands that children resilience, nor of the many other factors that mediate have a voice in deliberations concerning them. childhood experiences, such as the ties with family or the social recognition children receive for what they do. The need to include working children in their own Although a small minority of children are undoubtedly protection is increasingly recognized by NGOs and some impaired emotionally or psychologically by traumatic governmental and international organizations, and a experiences, there is little scientific indication that the number of programmessome of them well-known and majority of children arenecessarilyharmed for life by long establishedhave been exploring ways of doing such adversity, especially if their own resilience is this. Although it is a growing trend, working children's reinforced by supportive families or communities." participation in policy and programme efforts to assist or Also, there is evidence of children's ability to develop protect them remains a relatively unmapped terrain in even through highly stressful circumstances. For which even organizations fully dedicated to facilitating example, some research on street children living in children's rights are still feeling their way only difficult circumstances apart from family has found the tentatively. Most of the experience accumulated so far is psychological status and development of most to be at the community level, but there also have been recent surprisingly close to norms for the society, and has moves to open higher level decision-making processes identified mechanisms of their lifestyle that seem about children's work to participation from working to reinforce their resilience.' On the other hand, children themselves. At the national level, for instance, children's resilience is not boundless, and recognizing 's large movement of working and street children and supporting it should not detract from efforts to was instrumental in mobilizing public opinion in favour identify work that is degrading or dangerous to children of a constitutional provision guaranteeing children's or excuse society from providing the basic services and rights and a sweeping child protection law to implement protection all children have a right to under the CRC. them. The movement itself developed out of a highly participative way of working that had originated in grass-roots action.'6 At the international level, working THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN'S children have for some years gathered in regional PARTICIPATION conferences in Africa and Latin America. In the last two years children have also been included, albeit A child-centred approach to child work issues places marginally, in meetings and conferences discussing high priority on the participation of working children in new global action against child labour. National and their own protection. It discourages the popular international experiences have demonstrated that stereotype of working children as helpless victims, and children are indeed able to participate and represent instead facilitates their individual and collective their own interests effectively, but they also raise serious involvement in decisions and activities on their behalf. methodological questions. Two of these issues are This makes good sense for several reasons. First of all, especially important. according to recent child development understanding, it helps the children build capacities, attitudes and The first is that of representation. Not every working support systems that increase their resilience. Second, child can participate in every action at every level, so working children's own wits and skills already are their some sort of representational approach is needed. One

hi 12 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children way to achieve this is through child-centred research, contact, working children in many places help educate which makes it possible to convey working children's others about health and safety at work, how to protect views directly to decision makers. Another way is to themselves from workplace abuse and where to go for consult children where they routinely gather in schools help. This has become a standard method of getting and regular programmes, or to hold special workshops essential protective information out to street children for dialoging with children who are not attached to and children working in prostitution, for example. such institutions. Schools, workers' organizations, and In other cases, children's organizations have been special programmes for child workers would seem to effective advocates representing their members' needs be especially well placed to systematically poll working to adults. For example, working children's organizations children for their ideas and opinions. in Peru successfully pressed and negotiated with the Government for the incorporation of working children A rather different approach is through the formation of into the national social security system providing health children's own representational organizations, and care to adult workers. In this case, the children several of these have now come into being in various protested their exclusion merely on the basis of age, Latin American, West African and South Asian countries. and demanded just recognition as workers in their own Some of these organizations have been in existence for right. They were admitted on this basis, and were a long time. In Peru, at least one has been around for authorized to carry identification cards, have rights to over twenty years, and today a national working services, and make regular payments into the system, children's movement encompasses approximately as do adult workers. In a few cases, governments 10,000 members. Working children's organizations have opened spaces for hearing working children. assertively press the claim that child participation in In Senegal, for example, the national union of working policy and programme decision-making should be children was invited by the Government to sit on primarily through children's own organizations having the governing council that oversees the national an elective process. They point out that children programme for eliminating the exploitation of children. arbitrarily selected by adults have no credible claim to In Brazil, child delegates address the national congress speak for children as a group, and are more easily as a concluding activity of an NGO-sponsored national manipulated. At the same time, some critics of the conference of working and street children held every working children's movements have questioned the three years. What such examples have in common is claim of children's organizations to legitimate that they approach working children not as helpless representativeness, asserting that children from certain victims, but with respect and the expectation that they occupations predominate because they are easiest to are able to contribute meaningfully to initiatives mobilize, and that the youngest children are not designed to help them. properly represented since leaders and spokespersons are normally teen-agers. The children's organizations A second major issue relating to children's respond that, while delegates from working children's representation is that of adult influence. This has been organizations do not represent all child workers any a question in working children's organizations more than trade unions represent all adult workers, particularly, because they are sometimes accused of they at least represent the children who elected them, being manipulated by adults. This issue arises from the whereas children picked by adults represent nobody. fact that adult support is essential to such organizations. One reason is that children grow up, and since they There is strong evidence that working children's own are working children for only a few years they are at a organizations can be very useful to them in disadvantage in guaranteeing the continuity of their representing their interests in productive ways adult own organizations. Adult support helps provide that organizations might not. Through them children and needed continuity. Also, in many societies children are campaign locally, nationally and even legally prevented from forming registered organizations, internationally for improvements in their own and other opening bank accounts or renting buildings. Adults children's conditions of work. Through child-to-child must in these cases assume the legal responsibilities.

1 5 13 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children In some instances, adults actually founded the empower them to stand up for theinselves in cases of organizations in order to create social and political abuse and exploitation, and can provide them with spaces for working children, and they remain necessary viable alternatives to the drudgery of inappropriate as legal representatives and as facilitators whose role is work. It can prepare them to he more effective to constantly help train and encourage new children to defenders of their own best interests. The question is participate. Children's organizations, as with other forms to what degree education realizes this potential for of participation, are a particular kind of partnership working children, or at least meets their minimum between children and adults rather than a form of needs and expectations. generational exclusion. But it is a demanding sort of partnership in which adults play a self-limited role Because of education's undeniably powerful potential, aimed at the empowerment of children. Working with policy makers and child advocates generally believe children in this way, being effectively supportive school to be the most socially desirable activity for without being obtrusive or manipulative, is a difficult children from roughly six to fourteen or more years of and sensitive art that not all adults manage to learn. age. Most children live in countries that make education But many seem to have mastered it remarkably well. compulsory through at least enough years thought Radda Barnen's recent study of children's participation necessary to achieve literacy. It is often assumed by in several programmes for working children found policy makers and activists that all schools are intentional manipulation of children by adults to be developmentally beneficial, at least in academic skills, non-existent or rare. However, it also warns that adult although some are recognized as being more so than influence is powerful and subtle, and that constant others. In that belief, campaigns against child labour vigilance is needed to ensure that children's views and often promote the idea that the place of children in objectives are not buried by adult's own concerns.'" the middle childhood years is universally in school, thereby conveying the ideas that working and attending As interest increases in children's participation, including school are mutually exclusive, and that school is through their own organizations, there will be special developmental whereas work is not. As an extension of need for assistance to responsible experimentation and these assumptions, it is often thought that keeping all development of the best methods for such participation. children in school will keep them from working. These There also will be a large task in training adults in the assumptions about the contribution of school to skills of supporting children's participation effectively personal development and the mutual exclusiveness without distorting it. This is an area in which NGO, between school and work merit closer examination. hi-lateral and multi-lateral financial and technical assistance could be especially useful. Let us take the second issue first. While education is indeed incompatible with work in many instances, recent research suggests that is far from the general EDUCATION, WORK AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT rule. In many places work and school co-exist, and in some cases children's schooling depends upon their Throughout the world, most parents and children working. In fact many developing country children respect education as an important vehicle of personal work in order to pay for the books, paper and pencil, growth and development and see it as their main hope transportation, examination fees, and sometimes even for economic and social advancement. By all accounts, tuition, necessary to attend school. In some homes so the incidence of those not wanting a decent education poor that not all the family's children can attend school, has been rapidly falling. Practically everywhere demand older children or girls may work full time so that their for education remains high, even among families whose siblings can study. The truth is that the relationship children fail to attend school regularly or drop out early. between work and education varies enormously Beyond promoting social and economic mobility, according to place and circumstance. For example, a education of the right kind can inform children about statistical analysis of comparable, high quality the risks of work and about their rights generally, can household survey data from Pakistan and Ghana

1G 14 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children demonstrates that, whereas school and work tend to he limited extent. While low-income school children are mutually exclusive for Pakistani children, in Ghana more likely to work, and while heavy work schedules nearly all working children go to school and receive at have indeed been shown to lower children's school least a basic education.' They are very different social performance, most research suggests that the great class and cultural systems in the way they handle both work difference in literacy levels is related to home factors and education. In virtually all countries it is possible to (such as parental education levels) and to the almost find children who only work or only attend school and universal fact that the amount and quality of education children who both work and go to school. Some available to poor communities is significantly inferior to children manage to integrate the two activities through that offered the better-off sectors of society. And work, apprenticeships and work-study programmes, often per se, can hardly be the problem in those cases where under the aegis of educational institutions. The child- studies have found the school performance of working centred question is not whether work and education go children (especially those working about 5-10 hours per togetherthey already do all over the worldbut how week) to be superior to that of their peers who do not the relationship between them can be made to work at all. effectively serve children's best interests. If the typical schooling experienced by working Returning to the question of how education affects child children is judged by modern criteria of child development, an appraisal of the extensive evidence development, it would appear to contribute surprisingly clearly demonstrates that school, like work, can he little to their personal development. Rarely does either detrimental or constructive for children. It is often education policy and practice consider the diverse both. While most children may gain undeniable benefits nature and needs of different groups of children, build from their education, new information is casting light on children's existing capacities and target their special on the often ignored negative aspects of schooling in needs, provide a variety of opportunities for learning the lives of many children. Because this dark side of and for developing children's many competencies, or education is not much talked about in the debates enlist children's own initiative and participation in about child work, it is worth dwelling on momentarily. planning their own development. And when schools When considered in light of recent thinking about child fail even to make their students functionally literate, development, the school experience of low-income they not only waste children's time but crucially children in general, and working children in particular, undermine their capacity to defend themselves in turns out often to be quite detrimental. To begin with, increasingly urban-industrial societies. Throughout the schools in many places do not accomplish even the world, these shortcomings apply especially to the narrowest academic objectivefunctional literacy schooling provided to children from poor communities, expected of them. Other important cognitive objectives, the very children most likely to work. such as critical thinking or problem solving, are commonly neglected altogether. Even in Latin America, The problem does not stop there. For large numbers of one of the richest developing regions, recent research children school is not the kind, safe and happy place has found that half the children leaving school after five many adults assume it is. There is ample evidence that or six years cannot read and write. More serious still is a significant proportion of children globally drop out of the socioeconomic discrimination hidden inside this school in response to physical or psychological abuse general statistic; fully 80 per cent of children from the by teachers, humiliation caused by other children, or lower half of the income distribution do not become discouragement at the unproductiveness of sitting in functionally literate." There is no reason to believe Latin school without learning. In a Rädda Barnen study of America is a unique case. working children covering four different regions of the world, over half the children's focus groups cited Some claim that, by detracting from school, child work abusive treatment as a major obstacle to attending contributes to this class disparity in school performance. school or learning there. They mentioned as common This is undoubtedly true sometimes, but only to a problems verbal abuse, physical beatings, extortion of

1 7 15 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children money (to obtain passing marks on exams), public reaching working and out-of-school children with ridicule, sexual abuse, and other brutal practices, not to effective education programmes has been steadily mention teacher absence and neglect." Many other growing. This new attention presents an opportunity reports from around the world report much abuse of for both national and international cooperation, this type heing directed specifically at working children, including with NG0s, to develop truly child-friendly whom teachers frequently consider dirty and poorly education, based in modern concepts of child dressed, harder to teach, and less submissive than development, that serves the best interests of children other children. who work.

It is hardly a surprise that so many children abandon school, dissatisfied with the kind of education on offer RECOMMENDATIONS: REFLECTING or distressed by the poor treatment meted out by CHILDREN'S BEST INTERESTS IN POLICY teachers. Indeed, it is important for policy analysts and AND ACTION decision-makers to understand that inferior and degrading schooling is a major cause of child work, All actions to protect working children should he often as or more significant than family poverty. Nor is firmly rooted in child welfare and development it a surprise that many children claim to learn as much objectives. Only a child-centred perspective based on or more from their work than their school, given the developmental principles and priorities can he relied many abilities they need to develop in order to adapt to upon to promote children's best interests. By focusing life in the modern world and the extremely narrow policy and programme objectives on children's potential range of academic skills provided by schooling. Recent and what is needed to realize that potential, such a research certainly warns against automatically assuming perspective keeps interventions from being so short- all schooling to he developmentally appropriate for the sighted that they cause long term harm to children they children involved; its value needs to be confirmed by try to assist in the short term. Emergency interventions specific observation. are indeed sometimes necessary, but they should be planned so that they contribute to the physical and A great deal of work is needed to provide working psychosocial well-being and development of the children, especially girls and children from groups children involved. suffering discrimination, with an education that is consistent with their rights, well-being and A child-centred approach challenges the notion that development. Projects successfully combining work and child work should be addressed primarily as a labour education for working children in innovative ways have issue, as is now the general rule. It makes much more been documented for over two decades, and lately sense to approach work in terms of its role as an special attention has been paid to programmes that important formative influence in the lives of perhaps provide scholarships or other subsidies that permit the majority of the world's children. This suggests that children to reduce or eliminate their workload in child work should be regarded less from a legal favour of schooln Much has been learned from such perspective than in the broader context of children's experience, but little of this learning has been social ties, aspirations, skills and competencies, and transferred from the non-formal education setting, evolving initiative and sense of self worth. Factors such usually in the NGO sector, into ministries of education. as these are critical in deciding whether work is good In recent years, however, some governments have or bad for children, and it is difficult to deal with them begun to deal with the problems of making education through legal instruments, which are essentially more accessible and attractive to working children, irrelevant. An outright ban on children working, for often with prodding and assistance from NGOs and example, does not really address the real factors that multi-lateral and bi-lateral development cooperation endanger children in their work, and it therefore agencies. This comes at an opportune time, because serves children's best interests poorly at best. Overall, during the last two years international interest in a child-centred approach would make less use of

1 ° 16 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children minimum age laws, public sector inspection of exploitation, then what is? More researchespecially workplaces and labour practices, compulsory school evaluations of policy and programme outcomes for attendance, and other coercive measures, although childrenare urgently needed to answer this question these might still have an important role to play. It in detail, hut some general outlines of an alternative set would instead rely more on mobilizational activities of practices can now he discerned. First and foremost, such as poverty reduction, advocacy and campaigning a child-centred perspective emphasizes that real on children's rights, economic and social incentives, children and their best interests shall remain the central participation of children and their parents in policy concern of all action, ensuring that this sharp focus is and programme planning, improvement of school not displaced or diluted by competing claims from accessability and quality, and the introduction of influential groups defending children less than workplace protections and safeguards for both children industries or occupations, labour markets, ideological and adults. The promotion of children's rights and their orientations or even national laws and international protection against child labour abuse is more effectively standards. It insists that, when necessary, the agenda of built up from within a society than imposed upon it by adult political and economic interest groups must give fiat from above. way to accomodate the needs of children, and that laws and standards must be applied to children's benefit The concern for protecting children against detrimental rather than their detriment. Also, a child-centred work focuses by definition on the negative aspects of viewpoint maintains a strong sense of priorities. Rather work, which is justified by the huge amount of abusive than becoming distracted by futile attempts to prohibit child work in the world. But it is important to keep in the work of all children, it directs society's attention mind that the effect of children's work on their and effort to those working children who require development is seldom all negative. Nor is it likely to protection and assistance, with special intensity to be all positive. The part time work most children children in the most urgent need. This priority for typically do, if it allows them time for rest and school, working children in the most intolerable circumstances may on balance have a positive developmental is now advocated by the ILO, UNICEF and many influence even if some negative factors are present. NGOs. Finally, child-centred policies and programmes There is no reason to stand in the way of this kind of understand and are sensitive to the specifics of work, although it it is a good idea to provide for circumstance and context. Their interventions accurately vigilance to ensure that acceptable child work does not reflect and evolve from the nature of the problems degnerate into danger and exploitation. Policy makers, being attacked, giving a sense of having been designed programme planners and children's advocates all need from the bottom up rather than imposed from the top to clearly understand that work can either undermine down. Their greater effectiveness springs from their or promote children's development, based on the relevance and specificity. circumstances. Whereas work of the wrong kind, as described in Article 32 of the CRC, diminishes a child's Such well-focused approaches are unlikely to either development and should he vigorously resisted, generate or derive from universalized models of appropriate work can help build children's social and intervention. But does this imply that there can be no economic skills, confidence, self-esteem, and integration universal dimensions to the defence of children against into family and community. Enlightened policy, workplace abuse and exploitation, and that programmes and children's advocacy would sensibly international instruments, including the Convention on seek to eliminate work situations that endanger children the Rights of the Child, are necessarily out of step with without needlessly curtailing their ability to engage in children's best interests? Not at all, for many important healthy work. objectives and principles can be widely agreed, adapting their application to the circumstances, even If the traditional approach centred around blanket when specific intervention models for mechanistic prohibitions on children's work is not an effective way replication are not appropriate. For example, more to protect most children against workplace danger and countries could conscientiously subscribe to a firm hut

19 17 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children general obligation to abolish seriously hazardous and self-representation initiatives and organizations (to he slavery-like work by children than to a set of universal discussed below). It is increasingly clear that policies policies all must adopt toward that end, whether they and programmes that do not take children's own fit or not. Accountability and the means to monitor can perspectives sufficiently into account are likely to be applied as rigorously to general objectives as to perform poorly and perhaps even to he specific policy commitments. The answer to melding counterproductive. Adults simply do not have all the universal criteria with the need to respond to children's information that is essential to plan interventions situational realities is to universalize broad principles, henefitting working children as intended. which can be flexibly adapted to differing local needs, rather than uniform policies to he everywhere Design all policies and programmes to ensure replicated. Although more evaluative research is needed to better define such principles, experience that the children affected are left better off to date suggests that at least the following can be Children whose rights, well-being and development are relied upon to promote working children's best truly protected will be left observably better off as a interests: result of interventions on their behalf. While this should be obvious, the fact is that relatively few child Base all action on accurate empirical labour policies are now planned and implemented in a information about children's work and lives way that will ensure children are left with more rather than fewer options for their survival and advancement. No major policy or programme intervention should be As a first rule, children's capacity to act on their own made without a solid understanding of the work, life behalf should not be unnecessarily abridged. They situation and opinions of the children involved. This should be left as much freedom and opportunity as means that all interventions in children's work should their reasonable protection permits. For children who be founded on accurate empirical information about the want or need to work, interventions that make work nature and conditions of that work, the life situation of safe and developmentally appropriate should be the children involved and how their work fits into it, favoured over those that exclude them from it. the negative and positive effects of the children's work These should include, where feasible, work-study on their well-being and development, the children's opportunities that coordinate work with school in a own opinions about their work, and their ideas about developmental framework. When it is necessary to protective or other assistance they feel they need. separate children from work for their own protection, This empirical information should be the first and most alternative activities that meet their developmental and important basis for deciding what policies and economic needs must be provided. This might mean programmes, if any, are merited. offering children alternative, more appropriate, employment, or perhaps establishing other family Most useful empirical information comes from special sources of support so as to maintain family income. studies about child work and working children, Subsidies to children to facilitate their reintegration into including surveys of children and their families. In most school or to make it possible for them to benefit from countries official data about child work are so flawed vocational training may be necessary. A more powerful that they tend to be worthless for policy and incentive is to be able to offer children the possibility programme planning. However, those few countries of decent employment when they have reached an now collecting child labour data according to new ILO acceptable level of education and are of a legal guidelines may produce usable information, and a few working age, but few countries are today in so countries have processed official household survey fortunate a position. information in such a way as to reveal child work and education patterns. One of the most essential sources of Where it is children's accepted social role and duty to information is from working children themselves, and it contribute economically to their family, interventions may he collected either in surveys or through children's which prevent them from doing so can weaken their BEST COPY AVAILABLE 20 18Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children ties to their families and damage their sense of self- decision making skills need not be reserved only for worth. It is critical therefore that interventions to protect older children and teen-agers, for younger children them he designed taking into account the broader too have the capacity to participate in ways and fora social and cultural context. Whenever feasible, even appropriate to their age. Children need to see the when urgent remedial action is needed, children and advantages of taking part, which means they need to their families, teachers, religious leaders, employers, participate in real decisions of some importance to community workers and other key actors in children's them. The benefit need not always be direct; many lives should be consulted about possible unintended children are willing to participate in decisions and adverse effects of intervention. activities that may primarily help others in the future. In fact, many have noted an unselfish tendency among working children's own groups and organizations to Monitor all policies and programmes for their reach out to other children they consider worse off. impact on children Through participation children also learn patience and It should never he assumed that the impact of policies acquire more realistic expectations as they both help and programmes to protect working children is entirely plan their own lives and learn that things never go positive. All interventions should he routinely analyzed quite according to plan. to determine their outcomes in terms of the physical and psychosocial well-being and development of the Article 12 of the CRC provides for the opinions of children they touch. Such evaluations must consult children to be heard and considered in matters directly with children, their families and their concerning them, but it does not demand that their communities. Only those policies and programmes that wishes prevail. Adults do not relinquish their can be demonstrated to have a beneficial effect on responsibilities for society's major decisions simply by children's well-being and development should he consulting children. Children's views should be considered successful. Those not meeting this criterion balanced with those of others having an understanding should be reformed or discontinued. of the situation, for children are not always aware of what is in their best interests. Consultation should not occur in a vacuum, for children are part of a social Involve children in planning, implementing and context in which others also have important viewpoints, evaluating initiatives on their behalf and often the power to impose them on children. Working children should take part in planning, Therefore, good situation analysis must include an implementing and evaluating activities for their own assessment of which people and organizations have a protection and development. As has been mentioned vested interest in children's work, their interest being previously, their participation is both a developmental made explicit. These people need to he seen as influence for the children involved and a necessary potential allies in interventions on children's behalf. condition for planning policies and programmes that Actively involving them in decisions concerning seive their best interests. For participation to be children's well-being helps create support for action meaningful, children must be in a position to make and can reduce opposition to incorporating children informed choices, which also means that they must into planning and decision-making. It is also helpful to have the choice whether or not to participate. In order include mechanisms for consulting with children that to make good choices, working children need are not participating directly in any programme. information. Adults need to help provide this or guide them towards it. Working children need to be aware of the consequences of their work and to understand both the opportunities and limitations created by interventions on their behalf. They must acquire the social skills needed for collective discussion, decision-making, and action. The nurture of children's

21 19"promoting the Best Interests of Working Children PRIORITIES FOR GOVERNMENT ACTION In fact, many experts feel that the most important single thing that government can do to reduce child labour is Governments concerned to respond more effectively to to ensure the accessibility of quality basic education to the problems and needs of working children must first everyone, especially the rural and urban poor. School of all bring a more child-centred view of child work calendars and schedules need to he made more flexible into both legislative and administrative policy. They in order to accommodate children who must work have traditionally treated child labour primarily as a during particular seasons or hours. The introduction of labour market issue, codifying policy within the legal shifts or rescheduling the annual school cycle so that framework that regulates workplaces and entrusting its classes do not coincide with periods of peak labour implementation to the Ministry of Labour. While this is demand can make a big difference for working one valid perspective on child work, it is too narrow children. I-lolding classes in areas where large numbers as was discussed aboveto adequately promote the of children work, rather than in residential zones, can best interests either of children or of the national also help. In perhaps most schools serving the poorest society. Child labour can be addressed much more populations, education quality and relevance must he fruitfully for both children and nation as a human improved to ensure that children really benefit from development issue. This suggests that child work attending school. Schools should be made safe, should be an important topic of consideration in both productive and attractive to children so that they will education and social welfare ministries. A child-centred want to attend, and will learn when there. Special approach to child work might find its best home, attention should be devoted to eradicating violent and however, in national human resources development humiliating classroom practices that repel children and policy. Progressive policies of this type seek to threaten their development, replacing them with conserve the human potential of the country's children learning methods (in some places known as "joyful and support combinations of education and experience learning") using games, songs, dance, and other necessary for them to realize that potential. This activities children love. framework is suitable for building on the positive social, economic and learning value of appropriate Curricula should be based on the situation of the work while at the same time actively discouraging child children and be relevant to their everyday concerns, exploitation and abuse. drawing as far as possible on children's own skills and knowledge. Schools can do much to inform children It is also necessary to deal with the ravages of about work risks and how to avoid or deal with them. household poverty. Poverty is not the only reason They can bring children's work experiences into the children do work that is harmful to their well-being and learning process, utilizing them as a basis for development, but it is one very important factor that experiential learning that builds on work competencies also exacerbates others. Poverty reduction measures children already have acquired and applies their new that can do much to relieve the survival pressures on skills and knowledge to solving practical problems. children and their families include policies more fairly Emphasis should be given to comprehension, critical distributing income and tax burdens, land reform and analysis, problem solving and adaptation to changing other measures to ensure equitable access to conditions and new leaning situations as opposed to fundamental assets, adequate support for basic services the mere acquisition of knowledge or learning by essential to the poor, investment in natural resource memory. Education planning should take into account management and employment generation to reduce working children's capacities, making use of alternative household vulnerability, and micro finance programmes means of learning, including work-study combinations, that enable households to establish or improve small where desirable and feasible. Learning models that are enterprises and better manage periods of scarcity." sensitive to the special needs and achievements of working children, who may be very mixed in terms of Government should give top priority to making aptitude, background, age and experience, need to he education accessible and attractive to working children. devised. Such approaches allow children to practice

0 n 20Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children and learn on their own terms, using their own need to he devised. By extension, there also is a need language, concepts and understandings. They build to create special opportunities and mechanisms for children's capacity to deal with new and adverse working children's voices to be beard in national and circumstances and increase their confidence and international policy discussions formulating child self-esteem. With education of this type, schools labour laws and standards, whether through their could stop being part of the child labour problem own representative organizations, school-based their failures propelling children into full-time and consultations, national workshops or other means. inappropriate workand become part of the solution. Non-governmental organizations also lead hy example. They are uniquely positioned to implement child- WHAT NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS centred approaches at the project level, providing living CAN DO models of what can and should be clone. It is here that governments, civil society organizations and the public Most of the social vision, political pressure and at large can see new ideas turned into successful methodological innovation for protecting children practice, and become inspired to extend them more against workplace exploitation and abuse has in the broadly. Developing partnership with such past come from non-governmental organizations. organisations to promote child-centred approaches is Now they have to play an equally prominent role in critical. Through their support or execution of projects making child labour thinking and action more working directly with children, NGOs can lead the way child-centred. In both developing and industrialized in demonstrating at least three of the most essential countries, they must educate both government and elements of a child-centred approach. First of all, they public opinion about the concepts and methods can rigorously base their programmes and advocacy on required to address child work in ways serving empirical evidence about children rather than simply children's best interests. They also must provide on mere suppositions and ideological positions. leadership in developing the practical tools and Secondly, they can experiment with various means for guidelines necessary to implement a child-centred incorporating working children's participation into approach. Some of these are now in the process of programme planning, implementation and evaluation. development, but much more such work is needed. Thirdly, they can open new opportunities for working For example, the techniques at present available for children to represent themselves and undertake their distinguishing detrimental from harmless work are not own initiatives, and they can prepare and assist children always adequate to the task, especially in regard to the to seize those opportunities successfully. measurement of psychosocial impacts. Urgent priority needs to be given to the development of tools and procedures for assessing psychosocial distress that can MEASURES WITH AND BY EMPLOYERS be used in different social and cultural contexts. The methodology of working children's participation is Employers establish the jobs most children perform, as another area needing priority attention. Work is well as the working conditions under which the work is needed to collect and analyze current experience and accomplished. They, more than anyone else, hold in to develop and field test practical procedures for their hands the power to change the nature of systematically bringing children's views into programme children's work experience for either better or worse. planning and evaluation. Some progress has been For that reason alone, it makes sense to persuade and made in adapting participatory techniques (for example, assist employers to protect the well-being and promote Participatory Rural Appraisal) originally developed for the development of any children who work for them. adults to the challenge of accurately hearing and Another reason is that, no matter what the provisions of recording children's views regarding their work and the law, it is almost impossible for labour inspectors or usefulness of programmes to assist them, but reliable other enforcement agents to penetrate where most methods devised specifically for use with children may children work. Coercion of employers is almost never

23 21 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children an option. It also makes sense to target the kinds of education and advocacy may be the most effective employers for whom most children work, hut there is a strategy, and employers often can be persuaded to take hidden surprise here, for most employers of children action to protect children working for them. Only a are not the businessmen and factory owners assumed negligible fraction of child workers are in large factories by popular stereotypes. Since the large majority of or in facilities producing for export. I lowever, these working children work for or with their families, most employers are very visible and open to international employers of children are in fact the children's own criticism for using child labour, so may he motivated to parents or other relatives. This is not to be dismissed as free themselves of all child workers. Before acting irrelevant, for the available evidence does not support precipitously, employers need to understand the full the common idea that work for family is safer or less situation of working children, which can be ascertained exploitative than is work for outsiders. Protection efforts from speaking with children, their families, and aimed at employers should focus equally on working community leaders and institutions. Especially where children's families and on external employers. children's income is crucial for survival, employers Experience has shown that much can be clone to should consider ways to improve working conditions educate parents about the health and development risks and create work-study opportunitieswhich are of certain kinds of work and working conditions and to permitted under ILO international standardsfor their help them find viable solutions for protecting their child workers rather than automatically eliminate them working children. There is some evidence that the from the workforce. Employers also can adopt safety "pay-off' from working with parents can be especially rules and technology to ensure children do not use high," hut still surprisingly little effort or investment is dangerous machinery or processes. They can keep the now being channeled to this critical activity. It is a general work environment safe. Educating adults and vastly underexplored area for creative action. children about safety measures and providing first aid equipment, protective clothing and other such items at Domestic servants comprise the largest group of the place of work can make a big difference, as can the children working outside the home, and nearly all are provision of services such as education and health care girls. Many live where they work. Their employers for adults and children. Employers can employ children are better-off households, usually the women of the to do only the lighter jobs and reduce their hours to households. There is considerable anecdotal evidence permit school attendance. Historically, industrialized that young house maids and child minders may country employers often have offered schooling and commonly be subject to a wide variety of physical, skill training in or near their facilities to allow young mental and sexual abuse by their employers. In virtually people to complete a useful education while holding a all places they are treated as servants in every way part time job and earning essential income. Socially inferior to the employers' own children. When it conscious firms could do much to creatively adapt this is not feasible to remove these children from such model to today's needs in developing countries. employment altogether, pressure can be brought on their employers to recognize their responsibilities for all children in their households. In some places NEW ROLES FOR TRADE UNIONS advocacy campaigns to educate employers of child domestic workers to this responsibility have claimed The trade union movement has perhaps the longest some success. At an absolute minimum, employers of continuous historical commitment against child labour. child domestics should ensure that all children in their However, that commitment has been primarily to home are in good health and well nourished, clothed excluding children from the labour market. For that with dignity, educated at least to literacy, and given reason trade unions have been uneasy with strategies time to rest, play and build friendships with their peers. that protect children in their work, which they see as perhaps incompatible with a long-term goal of Especially in urban areas, many children also work in eliminating the economic participation of children small informal sector shops. Here also, employer altogether. It is hardly surprising that they have been

24 22 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children cool to the self-representation of working children A NEW CONVENTION AND through their own organizations, which they tend to A NEW OPPORTUNITY fear as competing "unions" of workers who should not be workers at all. They have heen openly hostile to the In mid-1998 the International Labour Organization view of some working children's organizations that held the first discussion leading toward a new ILO children should legally be allowed to engage in safe convention that would mobilize nations and the and non-exploitative work if they need or wish to. international community to eliminate the very worst Although the union position is understandable and has forms of child labour, especially those that are a long and honorable history, it needs to take account tantamount to slavely and that face children with grave of the economic and social realities of today's world. harm. I lopefully this convention will he adopted in It may also he incompatible with a child-centred mid-1999 and ratified by most countries shortly approach to child work and the best interests of thereafter. At that point, the real workits working children. implementationwill begin. It is here that the child-centred approach sketched out above can be Trade unions should seriously consider adopting a especially valuable, for it is more likely than are policy that recognizes working children to be an traditional interventions to reach the children in most inescapable realityeven if an undesirable oneand urgent need and provide them with assistance that will extends protective services to them. They could make promote rather than undermine their best interests. a major contribution by including working children The discussion and adoption of this proposed (perhaps in associate status if not as full members) and convention provides an opportunity to advocate for helping represent the children's interests to employers more child-centred objectives and strategies, making and other groups. Trade unions also have the potential national and international policy makers aware of the to monitor and detect abuses and to campaign for alternative opportunities for action that are before them. improvements in health, safety and employment The potential for governments, NGOs, employers, practices more generally. Through public education, workers' organizations and other key actors to more they can raise public awareness of the hazards to effectively support the interests of working children children of specific work situations and specific is enormous. To realize this potential, a major activities and occupations, and can provide information reassessment and reformulation of conventional on alternative employment opportunities. They could wisdom and ways of doing things is required. It is to thus play a vital role in ensuring that children benefit be hoped that the design and implementation of the from, rather than are harmed by, the work they do. new Convention will ultimately reflect such a They also could offer other services, such as literacy reassessment and reformulation. classes, or training in children's and workers' rights, to child workers and their families. Children could benefit greatly from being brought into participation as workers in regular trade union organizations, and as they mature inside the movement they might also become a valuable source of new leadership for the trade unions that treated them well as children.

25

23 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children NOTES 8.See V. Forastieri (1994), Strategies to Address Child Labour front a Health Perspectit,e, Geneva, International Labour 1.For recent reviews of both rich and developing country Office. child labour research and experience see:.Boyden, B. Ling and W. Myers, (1998) What Works for Working 9.For a summation of clinical and research findings relating Children, Stockholm, Riidda Barnen and UNICEF; physical hazards to occupations and working conditions, C. Grootaert and R. Kanbur, 'Child Labour: An Economic see V. Forastieri, Ibid.; Examples of more general accounts Perspective', International Labour Review, Vol. 134, No. 6, include N. Burnt (1995), Born to Work: Child Labour in 1995, pp. 187-203; C. Grootaert and H. Patrinos, Me Policy , Delhi, Oxford University Press; International Labour Analysis of Child Labour: A Comparative Study, Office (1992), Towards Action Against Child Labour in unpublished working paper, World Bank, January 1998; Zimbabwe, Geneva, International Labour Office (ILO), Addison et al., Child Labour: A Prelitninaly View, Interdepartmental Project on the Elimination of Child unpublished paper, Centre for Development Studies, Labour; International Labour Office (1992), Child Labour University of Bath, June 1997; and S. Hobbs and in Mnzania, Geneva, International Labour Office (ILO) J. McKechnie, (1997) Child Employment in Britain: Interdepartmental Project on the Elimination of Child A Social and Psychological Analysis, Edinburgh: The Labour; Gunn, S. and Ostos, A. (1992), 'Dilemmas in Stationery Office; International Working Group on Child Tackling Child Lalx.mr: the case of Scavenger Children in Labour (1998) Working Children: Reconsidering the the ', International Labour Review, vol. 131, Debates, Amsterdam: Defence for Children International. no. 6: pp. 629-646; Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (1994), By the Sweat and Mil Heptinstall, E., (1998) 'Children at Work: Healthy or of Children: the use of Child Labor in American Imports, Harmful? Forthcoming in B. Pettitt (ed.), C'hildren and A Report to the C'ommittees on Appropriations, United States Work: Rqfbcusing the Debate, Save the Children/Child Congress, volume I; Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Poverty Action Group, London; Pollack, S.H., Landrigan, U.S. Department of Labor (1995) By the Sweat and Mil of P.J. and Mallino, D.L. (1993) 'Child labour in 1990: prevalence and health hazards, Annual Review of Public Children: the use of Child Labor in American Imports, A Report to the Contmittees on Appropriations, United States Health, vol. 11, pp.359-75. Congress, volume 11; Das, P.K., Shukla, K.1'. and Ory, F.G. 3.See: J. Boyden and W. Myers, Evploring Alternative (1992), Ali Occupational I Iealth Progra»nne for Adults Approaches to Child Labour: Case Studies from Developing and Children in the Catpet Weaving Industry, Mirzapur, Countries, Innocenti Occasional Papers, CRS 8, UNICEF India: A Case Study in the luformal Sector; Great Britain, International Child Development Centre, Florence, , Pergammon Press. 1995; F. Badry Zalami, 1998, Forgotten on Me pyjama Trail. A case study of young garment workers in Meknes 10. Mattoo, G.M., Rauf, A. and Zutshi, M.L. (1986) 'Health Status of School Age Children Employed in Carpet (Morocco) dismissed from their jobs following jbreign media attention, DCI, . Weaving in Ganderbal Block', British journal of Industrial Medicine, vol. 43: pp. 698-701; Baker, R. with Panter-Brick, 4. Boyden and Myers, op. cit. C. and Todd, A. (1996) 'Methods Used in Research with 5.For example, the Statistical division of the ILO is helping a Street Children in Nepal', Childhood, vol. 3, no. 2. number of countries to complete child labour surveys that 11. Woodhead (1997) 'Child Work and Child Development: a are far more accurate, revealing and useful than is any review and conceptual analysis' unpublished draft report prior official data. Also, at this moment of writing both the for Riidda Barnen, Centre for Human Development and World Bank and Bath University in the UK are preparing Learning, Great Britain, The Open University. major studies derived from living standards surveys in a variety of countries and applying sophisticated economic 12. Kirby, L.D. and Frazer, M. (1997) 'Risk and Resilience in analysis techniques. Preliminary findings from each Childhood' in Fraser, M. (ed), Risk and Resilience in suggest the need to reconsider a variety of policy issues. Childhood, an Ecological Perspective, NASW Press, Social scientists taking anthropological and psychological , pp. 34-49. perspectives are preparing important reports and articles 13. Ibid for publication by Radda Barnen (the Swedish Save the 14.1t is notable that this analysis draws on recent research on Children), Childwatch International, and others. the implications of war on children's psychosocial 6. This literature is reviewed in J. Boyden, B. Ling and W. development. Such research is not available in relation to Myers, op. cit., Chapter Two. children's work experiences. 7. Woodhead, M. (1998), Children's Perceptions of their 15. For example, see L. Aptekar (1989), 'Characteristics of the Working Lives, a report to Radda Barnen, Riidda Barnen, Street Chiklren of Colombia', Child Abuse and Neglect, Stockholm. Vol. 13, pp. 427-437, and (1991) 'Are Colombian Street

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 26 24 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children Children Neglected?',Anthropology and Education Combating Child Labour,Innocenti Occasional Papers, Quarterly,Vol. 22, pp. 326-349. CRS 12, Florence, Italy, UNICEF International Child 16. For a fuller reading of the Brazil experience, see A. Swift Development Centre. (1997),Children fbr Social Change: Education for 20. For example, see M. Wooclhead (1998). Citizenship of Street and Working Children in Brazil, 21. For example, see R. Anker and H. Melkas (1996), Nottingham, England, Educational Heretics Press. Economic Incentives for Children and Families to 17.1). Tolfree, (1998),Old Enough to Work: Old Enough to Eliminate or Reduce ChildLabour, Labour Market Policies Have a Say: Diffrrent Approaches to Supporting Working Branch, Employment Department, Geneva, ILO. Children,Riickla Barnen, Stockholm. 22. See R. Marcus and C. Harper, 1996, Small/it/m/s: Children 18.'1. Addison, et al., (1997),Child Labour in Pakistan and in the Working World,Working Paper 16, Save the Ghana: A Comparative Study,first draft, Centre for Children, London, for a more detailed discussion of Development Studies, Bath, England, University of Bath. poverty-reduction measures. 19.E. Schiefelbein (1997),School-Related Economic Incentives 23. Much of this evidence comes from IPEC's experience. in Latin America: Reducing Drop-Out and Repetition and

27

25 Promoting the Best Interests of Working Children labour prArt tirg theest interests of ,r44-00 s ildren rev0sa datod GOC©int Rion

Save the Children works for: a world which respects and values each child a world which listens to children and learns a world where all children have hope and opportunity * * *

This paper focuses on the relationship between children's work and their development. Whilst some forms of work are clearly hazardous to children's health and wellbeing, others may actually enhance their development. Drawing on recent research, the authors, William Myers and Jo Boyden argue that the impact of work on children's development should be the key measure for assessing whether or not it is appro- priate for children, and that children themselves can play an important role in helping make such assessments. Just as safe work can help children develop self-confidence and other skills, so can their participation in action to address child labour problems. The paper suggests a number of different measures which can be employed to ensure that children are protected from harmful work and enabled to benefit from safe work.

01998 International Save the Children Alliance 28 ISBN 2 940217 06 8 U.S. Department of Education

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