Picture the shirt that would be seen in a school environment.  Where did that student get their shirt? Not where most people would think.  Not from everyday clothing stores and boutiques, but sweatshops with hard workers getting paid little to no money.  Some of these workers are children.  Child labor has been going on for over a century, and most people grimace at just the thought of it.  Child labor is when children under the age of 16 are working hard, dangerous jobs that they shouldn't be doing.  Children working with machinery and other dangerous tools, are cheaper workers, and they are easier to boss around.  These are just two reasons that job employers are employing children.  Companies should be allowed to hire children because it teaches children important skills, it helps them support their poor families, and it helps out the poor economies.

To begin with, child labor helps children learn important skills.  Children who work hard are better off in the future as an adult because they know how difficult things can get.  One example of how working as a child teaches important skills is in the article "Much Too Young to Work so Hard" states, "...continued use of children in industry and on farms argued that the work helped children develop a solid work ethic..." (53-55).  When children are working it helps them develop and it helps them grow into good, hard workers.  Another example is said on line 56 through line 58, "Others claimed that after having worked hard labor, children would be more motivated to go back to school and become educated."  Not only would children enjoy going to school, they would also get to go back and learn even more important skills to help them in their future.  To help children learn important skills, it is helpful for them to get working at a young age.

In addition to learning important skills, working as a child helps out with poor families.  By employing younger children, parents don't have to be as sparring with money, and they get some extra cash.  The article states, "...necessary to support their impoverished families" (55).  The children get to feel important and help out their parents, and possibly their older siblings.  Another example is, "...20,000 families could be affected, since 70 percent of the local market relies on them for work" (Montero 41-43).  What this is explaining is that if countries ban child labor, it will affect the children's families in a negative way.  In the article "Is Doing the Right Thing Wrong?" it states, "...given how many families may be losing their livelihood" (75-76).  Once again, suppose people ban this they will be putting so many different families into debt and it may put them into homelessness and starvation.  For these poor families, the children working is such a great thing for them.

Not only do children get to help out their families by earning money, but they also help the economy.  An economy is the government, and in most places where child labor is still allowed the economy is poor.  In the article, "Much Too Young to Work So Hard" it reads, "...cheap labor provided by children was needed to keep certain industries up and running which in turn kept the nation's economy healthy" (58-60).  Because the children work cheaper than the adults, it helps the economy by saving so much money.  Another example states, "Many say a surge of unemployment and falling profits in Sialkot, a rare oasis, is the last thing a Pakistan struggling with militant Islam and poverty needs" (Montero 15-17).  If a country is derived of these cheap workers, the country will be more likely to become a poor economy.  By working at a cheaper rate, children get to pilfer the poor economy.

Some people disagree and believe that companies should not be allowed to hire children to work.  They may think this because the children don't get to spend as much time with their families.  However, the children are helping their families out, and most children get to work with their siblings and sometimes their parents.  In the article "Much Too Young to Work So Hard" it states, "After all, they were working with their families and breathing in fresh air" (15-16).  Not only do some kids get to work with family, they also get to work outside.  Clearly, children working at a young age isn't abhorrent.

Obviously, child labor isn't awful if it isn't abused.  It lets parents of poor families have some extra cash, it allows children to learn important skills, and it helps poor economies.  Letting children work before they are 16 isn't always a bad thing, companies should be allowed to employ children!