Reflection: Child Labor and the Social Construction of Childhood

 If we truly realized how privileged we are,especially when we were kids we would appreciate life much more. Seeing each of the pictures from the article “Child Labor and the Social Construction of Childhood” one by one made me feel extremely hurt. It is sad to know that there are many children in the world today that are treated as if they are “useless human beings”. That is what it honestly makes me feel, because in order for someone to be 100% fine with this type of treatment is astounding. I felt it even more after class when my classmates and I brainstormed about what it is to be a kid? What does it mean to have a childhood? To many of us we felt that it was playing Barbie’s, or playing tag, maybe even sitting around a table with family and playing a game of monopoly on family nights. 

When I saw the boy from Indianapolis getting paid $.75 an hour and how he started work at 6am that broke my heart. It was extremely sad to see how these kids were mistreated, and doing jobs that were very dangerous for their age. I also felt heart broken when I realized that most of them could not go to school because they were so tired from their jobs. It is sad how it took people in congress about 38 years for the “Fair Labor Standards Act” to pass in order for the children to receive some sort of protection. It is strange how even though, “Children working in Factories or mines were redefined as inappropriate and even exploitative and cruel…” they still allowed it to occur.