On the subject of our discussion this morning. What do we teach our students about the child labor and other stuff that our reading talked about. That is if you think we should even teach them about it, because sometimes it seems like a lost cause. If we do teach it how can we incorporate it into the class?

Jeremy, that's a tough one man. I guess if it were me I'd suggest that we teach our students all the facts about child labor, child labor laws and companies that seem to support it. First of all we as teachers need to get the best information to relay to our students, because poor information will be detrimental to the lesson. Once we have presented all of the "facts", I think it is up to the students to voice their opinions and come up with their own opinions on child labor. Because if we try to persuade them in one direction or another we aer guilty of pushing off our values onto them.
We said in class today that high school students would be best a handling this situation, by being able to examine from all sides and think critically about the situation. Younger students would be able to understand this dilemna, but they might need to be "spoon-fed" some of the information so they could comprehend it. Good thread Jeremy! I don't know if that's right. A little help?

I think we should teach the students about child labor, if we dont someone else will. Atleast if they get it from well informed educators(hopefully) they will be able to form their own conclusion. The more the students know about the issue, it is more likely they will try to change it later in life rather than turn a blind eye like our business and political leaders now.

I agree with what was said in class that the children working in these horrible conditions are the same age as your students, so if there are children experiencing it at the same age, then they are old enough to learn about it. I think that we can present child labor in such a way that they will understand it and it won't be so problematic for them and their parents. I'm not quite sure how to do it, yet, but our students need to know that while they are sitting in class, 6 year olds in Pakistan are making soccer balls with their bare hands. Then, maybe they wouldn't take their education and lives for granted.

No cause is ever lost unless you no longer feel it in your heart, and for me that is one thing that I hope my students will learn. I hope to teach them to follow their passions and to be compassionate. I would incoperate global issues into global studies and geopgraphy. Tell them what is happening in other countries, and what a child their age might be doing. Have them chat with- I don't know, are they pen pals on the internet? Have them write letters to representatives and CEO's. Most importantly teach them tht their voices are important and should be heard. And if they can try to speak for some of those voices that go invisible.

I believe it is very important to touch upon this issue in the classroom because for one, it is about children. Children want to know about the lives of other children. Even if you think it seems like a lost cause, I believe that a teacher should always instill in his/her students that no cause is lost and no goal is unattainable. Who knows what inspiration you may spark in your classroom. You may be teaching the student that single-handedly brings a universal focus on child labor and implements a global-wide solution to this inexcusable practice!

I think that this is an important topic to discuss with our students. Not only does this help with critical thinking, but allows the students to open up and think critically. I think that our students will give us the best view of how they feel about this topic. Another reason that I think it is important is because not too long ago this was happening in the US. Until the latter years of the 1900's child labor wasn't uncommon in the US. Children were used to perform dangerous tasks in factories like reaching their little hands into machines to get them unjammed and climbing under machines to retrieve dropped items. I get upset when I think about all the things that children were pretty much forced to do. They weren't volunteers typically, they were put to work by their parents which makes things that much more ugly. I couldn't imagine putting a child in that type of atmosphere with danger constantly surrounding them. I think that this discussion could be best used in a social studies class, but if you also taught english as well you could have them write out their feelings on this topic.

Child Labor as topic is a very important one for us educators to teach and not hide from our students. Students need to be aware of this issue so they can form their own opinions about this and hopefully help improve it later on in their life.