Chapter 11 Assignment - Conditions of adolescents in developing countries PDF

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Assignment from Professor Stephen Bernardini's class, regarding the conditions that adolescents face in developing countries and the corresponding responsibility that Western cultures may have....

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1. Do you think people living in the West have any responsibility for the conditions adolescent work in developing countries? Why or why not? Do they have more responsibility if they buy the items that adolescents produce through their labor? This is a tough question because it is difficult to accept responsibility for something which one feels they have no hand in. When people do not see a direct effect from their actions, it becomes an “out of sight, out of mind” type of issue. However, I do believe that people living in the West have some responsibility for the children and adolescents who are forced to work in harmful or unfair conditions in developing countries. I believe this is true in the same ways that I believe we are responsible for the destruction of the environment. It may be unintentional and indirect, but most people do (either intentionally or unintentionally) make decisions that play some role in these issues. Every time I go to the store and purchase a product made by Nike or Adidas, for example, I am, in some ways, contributing to the exploitation of adolescent workers in other nations. These companies, among many, many others, allow their products to be made in developing countries by children and adolescents, and often neglect to allow “access to factories to check on labour standards” (Good On You). Some people might justify these purchases with the reason being that those companies will continue to use child labor (sweatshops) and exploit their workers regardless, so “it won’t matter if I stop buying them anyway.” This may be true, but if enough people stop supporting this exploitation, and raise awareness of the damage that child labor causes, then perhaps the conditions for these workers will improve or we may even be able to decrease the amount of harmful sweatshops in the world. Child labor prevents children from going to school and getting educated--a right that every child should have access to. Child labor prevents children from getting paid a fair amount (if at all) for the work they do, which makes it difficult to earn enough money to assist their families and make a life for themselves. It can be so hazardous that children become physically or mentally harmed, sometimes beyond repair, and they might even lose their lives. Nike is an example of a company which supports sweatshops, and yet they have not signed the Bangladesh Fire & Safety Accord, which would “improve factory safety...after the death of over 1,000 garment workers in the Rana Plaza factory collapse” (Good On You). It may be hard to hear that we play a role in the potential deaths of children and adolescents, but I do believe we have some responsibility in this issue, and I believe we can improve the conditions these people are in. https://goodonyou.eco/nike-vs-adidas-whos-more-ethical/...