The document summarizes the hardships faced by child laborers. It discusses how they are exploited and abused by masters who force them to work long hours in hazardous conditions for little pay. Child laborers are denied basic human rights like rest, education, protection from harm, and seeing their families. They lose their childhoods and live in constant fear. The document urges readers to appreciate the freedoms and opportunities they have, and to help raise awareness about child labor so no other child has to endure such a difficult life.

1. April 9, 2012 Jennifer Lopez 8-73
The Hardships and Pain of Living a Life as a Child Labourer
How was your childhood? Did you disobey your parents? Did you fool around in school
and not take your education seriously? Did you secretly throw away your dinner while your
parents were not looking? Well the life of a child labourer is the complete opposite of what we
experience or experienced. In the novel Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo, it showcases a boy named
Iqbal who stands up to rude masters as he works in hazardous working conditions. He also tries
to gain the rights that have been denied from children who work as child labourers. Masters,
working conditions and having human rights denied are factors of the horrible life child
labourers experience. Children who live in the developed world need to acknowledge the fact
that they have a great life filled with freedom and lots of opportunities that they should not take
for granted as many children in the world don’t get to enjoy a caring and safe childhood.
Many masters make the overall life of a child labourer even harder than it already is.
Masters make children work for very long periods of time, for example in the novel Iqbal,
children are forced to work from dawn to dusk. (D’Adamo VI) Masters will do anything to keep
children working and money going into their pockets. In the novel Iqbal, Hussain Khan, the
master gave the two policemen each abaksheesh to keep their mouths shut about the rumour of
child labour happening in his house. (D’Adamo, 60) Masters are not gracious, they pressure
children to work and lie to them about the debt they have to pay. How does a master lie about a
debt? Well in the novel Iqbal, Hussain Khan has a slate for each worker and on each slate are
multiple tallies. (D’Adamo, 4) Never did a single child have all the tallies on their slate removed.
Fatima, in the novel Iqbal has been working at the carpet factory for 3 years and yet her slate was
still filled with tallies. (D’Adamo, 20) We need to demand that masters treat their workers fairly
and encourage them to hire adult workers.
The people child labourers work for are hard to deal with. Can you imagine the places
child labourers have to work! Hearing someone describe a child labourer’s working conditions is
disturbing and painful to my ears. Children who work and live in factories, work in hazardous
conditions, some work in very hot summer conditions, in dirty courtyards while the place
children remove their waste is just a Turkish toilet behind a filthy curtain. (D’Adamo, 1 and 3)

2. April 9, 2012 Jennifer Lopez 8-73
When children are not working, they are probably getting punished for doing something horrible
like cutting a carpet. In the novel Iqbal, punishment would be getting sent to the Tomb. The tomb
was an old cistern with slippery steps where it is so hot that there is no air to breathe. (D’Adamo,
38) Most children who work for multiple hours in factories are very malnourished, just like the
adults and children who are experiencing the drought and famine in Somalia. The conditions
people have to live through in Somalia are so deadly that 1 child dies every 6 minutes. (Famine,
War, Drought Relief, http://action.usaid.gov/home.php)
In addition to the horrible conditions child labourers work in, child labourers work in
places where their rights have been abused and denied. One right child labourers have been
denied from is the right to protection from any kind of exploitation as many child labourers have
been exploited and used to make money. (Children’s Rights,
http://globalclassroom.unicef.ca/en/professional_development/childrens_rights.htm) For
example, Iqbal was exploited into child labour because Iqbal’s brother was sick and needed
medical care. (D’Adamo, 19).
To be raised by your parents is a right, many of us in developed countries take for granted as
many child labourers don’t get to see their parents for three years and yet most of them are
younger than ten. (Children’s Rights,
http://globalclassroom.unicef.ca/en/professional_development/childrens_rights.htm)
Many child labourers have been denied of their right to be protected from being hurt and
mistreated, in the body or mind.(Children’s Rights,
http://globalclassroom.unicef.ca/en/professional_development/childrens_rights.htm)
Child labourers are harassed by strong, rude words and abused physically and mentally by the
master. We have many rights, rights that we shouldn’t take advantage of. We should care about
the rights we have because they are rights we will have forever but they can be denied from us
instantly.

3. April 9, 2012 Jennifer Lopez 8-73
As you can see the life of a child labourer is difficult as they have lost a lot of their rights
and so did they lose their entire childhood. Now that you received a brief tour on the life of child
labourers, now you can make a difference! One way you can do this is by spreading the facts and
details included in this essay. Another way is to create posters or ask for donations and mail them
to organizations. As you can see reading about the life of a child labourer is heartbreaking,
imagine experiencing their life! That’s why not only should we care and enjoy our life to the best
of our ability but we should make people more aware so another child does not have to
experience the hardships of being a child labourer.