Child Labor
it was an extremly horrible thing to do to children
Why was it bad?
- Children of the industrialism were forced to work close to 15 hours a day.
- Children were put in mines to open and close air vents.
- Their work places were crowded by other children that were trying to feed their family.
- There were alot of fatalities and injuries.
- sometimes whole familys even worked in the mines to get money for food.
How was it at all good?
It wasn't, it was the worst thing you could do to children 7 and up. They had to work in factories and had an estimated life expectancy of 17 years old. They actually made a Child labor reform law in the 1800s called "Factory acts" that made it so children worked only 12 hours a day and children under the age of 8 or 9 were pulled out of cotton mill.
Here are 3 children and their stories.
Child #1
I was forced to do alot of work so i could keep my family from starving, i died at the age of 18
Child #2
I was 6 when i started working in the coal mines. It was so dusty and dark but if it meant that i got paid it was okay even if i diddnt have any skin left on my knees at the end of the week.
Child #3
I worked in a factory for 12 years and by the end i had 2 fingers and my lungs were so covered in dust i couldnt breath without coughing. I died when i was 16.
Some other things about child labor
Child labor started by people making machines. The machines diddnt need adult strength so people employed children. The factorys were often dark, damp, and dirty and kids often worked for 18 hours a day 6 days a week to earn a dollar. They eventually outlawed it because child labor is the worst thing ever,