Curriculum
American Labor Studies Center
The American Labor Studies Center is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to collect, analyze, evaluate, create and disseminate labor history and labor studies curricula and related materials, aligned to the various state and national standards, to kindergarten through 12th grade teachers nationwide. They will include such areas as the history, organization, activities, and issues affecting the labor movement and the political, economic, and cultural aspects of workers and their unions. It is governed by a Board of Directors and funded by contributions and government grants. (from web site)
Think Quest
The ThinkQuest Library provides innovative learning resources for students of all ages on a wide range of educational topics. Featuring over 7,000 websites created by students for students, the ThinkQuest Library is visited by over 30 million web learners each year. (from web site)
From the “Library” link, you are able to search for a wide variety of projects.
Government
The Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking
The Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT) is part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). The office was created in 1993 in response to a request from Congress to investigate and report on child labor around the world. As domestic and international concern about child labor grew, OCFT’s activities significantly expanded. Today, these activities include research on international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking; funding and overseeing cooperative agreements and contracts to organizations engaged in efforts to eliminate exploitive child labor around the world; and assisting in the development and implementation of U.S. government policy on international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking issues.
Department of Labor: Youth & Labor
The Department of Labor is the sole federal agency that monitors child labor and enforces child labor laws. The most sweeping federal law that restricts the employment and abuse of child workers is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Child labor provisions under FLSA are designed to protect the educational opportunities of youth and prohibit their employment in jobs that are detrimental to their health and safety. FLSA restricts the hours that youth under 16 years of age can work and lists hazardous occupations too dangerous for young workers to perform. Enforcement of the FLSA's child labor provisions is handled by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department’s Employment Standards Administration.
International Labor Organization
More than 200 million children in the world today are involved in child labour, doing work that is damaging to his or her mental, physical and emotional development. Children work because their survival and that of their families depend on it. Child labour persists even where it has been declared illegal, and is frequently surrounded by a wall of silence, indifference, and apathy. But that wall is beginning to crumble. While the total elimination of child labour is a long-term goal in many countries, certain forms of child labour must be confronted immediately. Nearly three-quarters of working children are engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including trafficking, armed conflict, slavery, sexual exploitation and hazardous work. The effective abolition of child labour is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. (from web site)
New York State Child Labor
This section contains general information on the provisions of the laws governing the employment of minors in New York State. Certain details are omitted and the information provided should not be considered as a final interpretation of the law. (from web site) Also has a nice comparison between state and federal laws governing child labor.
Reference Works
Child labor: a global view by ISBN: 0313322775The conditions and issues of child labor are explored in a survey of 15 countries. Annotation. An unprecedented number of children around the world are working today. This volume is a must-have, up-to-date survey for student research. In the 15 examined countries, poverty, lack of education, gender inequity, the demands of the global marketplace, and easy sex tourism are key factors contributing to the child labor crisis. Each chapter depicts the child labor scene in a particular country, along with detailed conditions, the history of the problem, the present state of child labor, political policies, and social aspects, and the ultimate outlook.
Child labor and sweatshops by ISBN: 0737721804Forced labor in the United States is a serious problem / Free the Slaves and Human Rights Center -- The worst forms of Child Labor / U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs -- Regulated child labor is necessary in developing countries / John J. Tierney Jr. -- Child labor hurts chidren's health and the economy / Alan D. Woolf -- Free trade will result in less child labor / Economist -- The United States should not sign free-trade agreements with countries that allow child exploitation / Tom Harkin -- Governments must protect child domestic workers from abuse / Human Rights Watch -- Children should receive loans to stay in school instead of working / Economist -- An international declaration against child exploitation / Children's World Congress on Child Labour -- Immigrant workers in the United States face sweatshop conditions / Lisa Liu, interviewed by David Bacon -- Sweatshops help developing countries improve their economies / Jonah Goldberg -- The U.S. government should ban sweatshop products / Anna Yesilevsky -- Labor unions and consumer groups improve conditions for workers / Don Wells -- Unions promote the anti-sweatshop movement to further their own agenda / Walter Olson -- Universities must not sell products made in sweatshops / Dara O'Rourke -- Companies deserve praise for publicly posting factory inspection results / Aaron Bernstein.
Child slavery in modern times by ISBN: 0531116964Discusses cases where children are forced to work against their wills in difficult and dangerous conditions in various countries around the world.
Juvenile Literature
Good girl work: factories, sweatshops, and how women changed their role in the American workforce by ISBN: 0761309519Discusses the girls and women in the industrial workforce of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the reforms and movements that changed their working conditions and the nature of the work itself.
Living as a child laborer : Mehboob's story by ISBN: 0836859588Discusses the reasons behind child labor practices, especially in India, and the international efforts to end child labor throughout the world, and describes the life of a thirteen-year-old Indian boy who works to support his family.
Stolen dreams : portraits of working children by ISBN: 0822529602Photographs and text document working children especially in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Mexico. Includes a chapter on Iqbal Masih, the child labor activist from Pakistan.
Other Useful Links
Child Labor Coalition
The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) exists to serve as a national network for the exchange of information about child labor; provide a forum and a unified voice on protecting working minors and ending child labor exploitation; and develop informational and educational outreach to the public and private sectors to combat child labor abuses and promote progressive initiatives and legislation. (from web site). This site has information about legislation and camp gains around the world to stop child labor. There are also sections concerning international and US child labor, a section for teens workers and students as well as a media section.
Unicef
The United Nations Children’s Fund was created in December 1946 as a way to provide children in countries devastated by World War II with healthcare and food. Today the agency continues to provide humanitarian aid to mothers and children in developing nations. This webside contains links to a wide variety of resources in many formats, including audio, videos, power points and cartoons.
United Students Against Sweatshops
While not specifically addressing the child labor situation, this is a grassroots group that seeks to better labor conditions for all.