The Secret
The secret behind a lot of the things you enjoy like chocolate or bananas is that children helped to grow them.
You have certainly helped your parents at home: cutting the grass, washing up, looking after your little brother or sister, helping in the garden or with the harvest.
A lot of children across the world do more than help their parents at home. They spend many hours each day doing jobs that grown ups normally do. Some children start working even before they are ten.
Can you imagine how it feels to work long hours? Imagine using dangerous tools like machines or machetes. Imagine carrying bags as heavy as your little brother all day long.
When children work all day long it means that they don’t have time to go to school or to play with their friends.
They often get less money than grown ups or none at all for their hard work.
Worst of all, some children who work have to live far away from home without their family to care for them. Sometimes even in a foreign country.
If children under 18 have to work in such conditions, it is called exploitative child labour. This work harms children and their rights are violated.
