China uncovers Child Labor Scandal

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/China-Child-...8chinachildlabo

[Guest lilac6451]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

[Guest Tony n Terrific]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

When I was 14 I worked my butt off at a local fruit stand for one summer for about .50 an hour. The minumum wage then was $1.15 per hour. When I was 15 I went to work in a full service gas station for a $1.00 per hour plus commission. I wanted to work so I could buy a car when I turned 16 and I did buy a car. My parents believed in welfare. You worked and you increased your own well being by your efforts was their beliefs.The difference was I was not sold as a 1850s slave or treated as one. Yea we may have called our boss a real slave driver but in was only a figure of speech. This appears to be reality. Sonic, KFC, Mickey Ds and the other fast food places provide jobs to kids. If you do not want the job you can quit. What about these kids in Guangzhou?

Edited May 4, 2008 by Tony n Terrific (see edit history)

[Sebastian]

Excellent that they were 'rescued'.

 

But - now what?

all the raw data i've studied on 'this century' human traffick-ing leads me to believe that 'this batch', like those 'rescued' before them, won't have any home to go to.

 

Hopefully they can be moved to local orphanages and able to get back to school, even if it's not the typical 'lock-step-peer' groups .

 

With luck, none of them will be sold again.

I'd love to find out which companies had their products manufactured there for export.

 

What are your thoughts?

[hakkamike]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

I bet that you had a home to go to with your family after work

[Don]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

Kids can work in the US, but thier hours should be limited to just 20 per week. Plus, their parents and school must sign off. Than when they turn 16 they can work more hours. Even at 16 the hours are limited during the school year. This assumes everyone follows the law.

[Dennis143]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

I bet that you had a home to go to with your family after work

Sounds like a 'thick skin' issue, once again. Rather quick to defend child labor when it seems as simply another 'attack' (exposure) against China. Comparing those, Chinese, children to American children who work in clean, air conditioned environment is just...well, it's just silly.

 

Exposing flaws in a system is not an attack on the people.

[georgeandli]

Reminds me of a kitchen remodel I worked on. Bible study for suburban housewives was going on. 10 minutes of Bible then crack open the wine. You should see my new rug,so cheap! At least one of them said "child labor" but the retort was "as least they are working".

[Corbin]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

Not forced labor and as already stated if you didn't like it you could just leave.....

 

child labor is a problem and will still be a problem over the whole world, not just China.

[Sebastian]

I used to work at Sonic,where most of the workers are 14_year_ old American kids. How about McDonald, KFC?

 

Li - these kids in this story were sold into slavery, then lived at the factories. You'd never, ever hear about this type of condition at Sonic, McDonald, or KFC, even in Burma or Libya.

 

What city did you work at Sonic? What are the child-labour laws there? Wassup with slavery rules/laws in that city ?? TIA !!

[warpedbored]

How many kids were just rescued from that whacked out Mormon cult here in the US recently? We say hurray! the police busted them. On the other hand we make a big to do about child labor in China even though Hurray! the Chinese police just busted them. I don't see a hell of a lot of difference. The media is just trying to put more egg on China's face. Looks to me like the Chinese police were just doing their job. I didn't see where the police or any other Chinese government agency was in cahoots with the scum exploiting these kids.

[Guest lilac6451]

Yes, I forgot about this:How many kids were just rescued from that whacked out Mormon cult here in the US recently

[ChrisA]

I don't remember the exact figure, but under 18, something like 492 kids. Jeff's is sit in jail here in AZ waiting for his next trial?

[C4Racer]

How many kids were just rescued from that whacked out Mormon cult here in the US recently? We say hurray! the police busted them. On the other hand we make a big to do about child labor in China even though Hurray! the Chinese police just busted them. I don't see a hell of a lot of difference. The media is just trying to put more egg on China's face. Looks to me like the Chinese police were just doing their job. I didn't see where the police or any other Chinese government agency was in cahoots with the scum exploiting these kids.

 

Agreed, I don't see any difference at all. It was the Chinese media who discovered the issue and the Chinese government who have come to the rescue of these children. It wasn't the government exploiting these kids, but their own parents!! Here is a related story.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/china_slavery;_...__SCdouLf6aK8MA

 

The word scandal in the report appears that the press is again trying to put egg on China's face. I think China's government should be commended for stepping in to break up this ring.

The US has been asking for China to get involved in human rights. Seems to me like China is trying. So let's give them the credit they deserve.

Edited May 4, 2008 by C4Racer (see edit history)

[Smitty]

I don't know, but 1000 children rates as a scandal in my book, whether it's in a country in Asia, or a country in Europe, or the US.

 

Just because they use the word scandal doesn't mean anything with the government being involved.

 

And how is reporting news throwing egg on China's face? Should they wait until after the Olympics to report anything bad? I don't even see anything that implies insulting China. The article clearly says that they are going to inspect every factory in the area to see if any others are using child labor, and that they are doing what they can to rectify the situation.

Edited May 4, 2008 by Smitty (see edit history)