Investigative Journalism

“ H&M Employing 14 year olds?”

                    By: Nathaly Galvez

     More than 200 million children today are child laborers and 73 million of these children are below the age of 10 years old. Child labor has been a problem throughout the whole world, during the Industrial Revolution. Children worked for long hours, had poor working conditions, and earned a low pay. It took away their time of education and the time to enjoy their childhood. Families make an arduous effort to support their children but when not capable, children have to support and maintain their families.

          On August 21, 2016, officials say that children as young as 14 are working for more than “ 12 hours a day “ with H&M factories. These factories employed anyone who wanted to work. These children working in Myanmar, that are 14 year olds work but do not receive the equal amount of pay . Information was collected on the Myanmar factories, they “ found a high prevalence of forced overtime and low pay.” This quote shows that children work for long hours in factories, however they are not paid fairly for the amount of time they put into the factories. It states, in the article, “ I am not hugely surprised these problems are happening given the scale of disempowerment of workers in Myanmar,” Sahan said. “ This quote from the article states that Erinch Sahan, a man that has recorded data based on the child labor established in Myanmar, shows his perspective on the situation. According to his statement, there are not a lot of workers being employed in Myanmar. The minimum wage is “one of the lowest in the world” inferring that the pay, workers are receiving is not enough ($3 a day).

      There are many popular companies, that yet continue to use child labor to this day. Nestle, H&M, Philip Morris, Walmart, Gap, etc. Child Labor is a problem that has tried to be stopped by employing workers over the age of 18 and enforcing child labor laws. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which helps protect “educational opportunities of the youth and prohibits their employment in jobs that are detrimental to their health and safety.” In the United States, the legal age to work is 18. However in many other places, this is not happening. Child labor is yet not stopped, and with the way it is handled, will it ever?

Non-Fiction Book

 
            The book I am currently reading is , Odd Girl Speaks Out, by Rachel Simmons. This is a book where girls write about bullies, cliques, popularity, and jealousy. Many girls all around the world are being bullied and treated bad by the people around them . Rachel Simmons asked for girls to submit their stories with  great emotion and the girls opened up about what they feel deeply on the situation. She received many letters discussing what had happened to them from England, Canada and Australia. From stories, to poems, expressing their anger, sadness, and jealousy, etc about what they have experienced in or outside of school could no longer be a secret. 


            One passage that I found in the book that stood out to me was in the chapter , Who My Friends Really Were, it states," Everything got twisted and the truth never made it out....I went through this alone for three months...It wasn't until February that I figured out there was a cause for what I was feeling. I was diagnosed with clinical depression. " This quote shows a teenage girl in high school, talking about how the bullying unfortunately affected her to the point where she let herself break down. This is interesting and significantly stands out to me because I cannot believe that through all the cruelty, this girl has gone through, the girls making fun of her or teasing her, led her to a devastating time in her life. Her life is supposed to be making friends, receiving good education, not falling into depression because of the mean, rude, and nasty things people say. This girl is 17 years old, I am currently 13. It is mind blowing to think, that she is very young and has a story behind her that impacts everyone. It also says," I wouldn't take back anything I went through because I have gained so much through my struggle. " This quote stood out to me the most because managing all the tears and crying home from school, this girl managed to conquer it with strength and determination. Any girl can fight through any weakness, a girl has to go through the bad times to become stronger. 

          Some things that I have learned that I will remember in the near future is to use the strength we have from our weakest moments. I myself have gone through this stage, reaching the middle of seventh grade was the worst time of my life so far. I remember the days when I would come home crying from school, but I remember that in order to rise, you must fall. These stories from these girls will help me remember that when you are at your worst, things get better. I have to fight. Learning to be strong and living life, not worrying about how others live it because at the end of the day, it is my life and it is based on the decisions I plan to make. The main focus in this book is how you are willing to solve your problem? The outcome. The outcome, I decide for myself.

                                                      

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