As I have said before, and will say again and again, children are wise beyond their years. I think wisdom, isn't always something we gain with age, don't get me wrong age and experience do obtain wisdom, however there is something to be said for the wisdom of youth. Children have not seen all the pain in suffering in the world, nor have they endured the struggle that is life with all of it's bumpy roads and dead ends, but they know what is right. Ask a child about war, hunger, disease, hate, violence, etc., and I know that most of them will be quicker to tell you their view, than most adults. A child needs no time at all to know that these things are wrong, and should not be inflicted on anyone, and they most often have a suggestion on how to end it, if you ask them.
Therefore I asked a 9 year old boy and 11 year old girl, what they though about children around the world and how they where treated different than in America. The 11 year old girl was quick to jump in with, “I think its horrible that there is child labor.” I assure you I had no part in this topic of suggestion! The 9 year old was soon firing back with, “Yeah, how can we stop it? Its so sad they make them do such hard work!” Both children where now looking at me with much deeper eyes, and asking endless questions, about what children are forced to do in other countries. I must admit answering their questions required much more thought than those of most adults, and they would not take a brush of answer of any sort.
The two then began to discuss the topic of child labor among themselves, as I watched with disbelief…their conversation was more productive and intelligent than most adults would have been. It wasn't just the nature of the topic that they where discussing, but how they would quickly come up with solutions to the problems. There was no barrier between them, and a way to end such a practice of abuse. Granted they did not understand the full nature of how their solutions would be carried out. Then again they did not see why we as a society should be placing so many roadblocks in front of combating such an issue. The fact of the matter was, its wrong, and therefore it should be stopped. This approach is one we do not take so plainly in the real life world of international development, but maybe we should try harder to do so.
The solutions that these two children came up with included; punishing anyone who makes a child work (even the parents), giving children money to go to school, and if someone sees a child working they should just “go save them’. The tow also suggested that we send the children lots of books and toys, so they could be more like them. They even said that we (Americans) should give the children money so they would not have to work, since we have enough here that they do not have to work and can just learn and play.
