Lost Futures: The Problem of Child Labor (review)

Recently, the American Federation of Teachers and its affiliates have produced educational videos useful in high schools, labor education programs, and college classrooms. For instance, the California Federation of Teachers' movie on labor history, Golden Lands, Working Hands, has been very positively received by students in my introductory level college course. My hope was that the AFT's 16 minute video, Lost Futures: The Problem of Child Labor, would be a good way of getting discussion going on child labor. Sweatshops, child labor, and even slavery are contemporary features of the global economy that are of enormous concern to the current generation of student and labor activists.

The video opens with an overview of the continuing use of children as workers in many parts of the world. It develops the concept of "oppressive child labor," as opposed to acceptable child labor. This is: labor that prevents children from attending school, is dangerous, is done by very young children, or is excessive in terms of the number of hours worked. A brief history of child labor in the U.S. comes next, featuring classic pictures of children in cotton textile factories, mines, and garment sweatshops. Social activists and labor unions are both credited with fighting against child labor in the early twentieth century, but Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal receive the most attention. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act provisions with regard to child labor, minimum wages, and overtime pay are all reviewed.

The last segment covers activities by students and teachers themselves against exploitative child labor. I found this aspect of the video surprisingly effective and upbeat. The central theme is that public opposition to child labor can make a difference, and students can play a role in that effort, even if they are only 12 years old. The Teacher's Guide that accompanies this video containing an impressive array of background information and resources for teachers. Web sites, books, and videos are all referenced for a wide range of related human rights organizations/campaigns, related labor history, and possible classroom projects such as sending health or school kits to children in developing countries.

The video is most appropriate for use in middle school, or possibly upper-elementary classrooms. My high school daughter, who watched it with me, thought that it was clearly designed for younger children although some high school teachers would probably show it. The very things that make the video especially appealing to younger children (e.g., discussions in an elementary classroom about what is exploitative child labor) mitigate against its use in college classrooms or with working adults. This is too bad, because many young workers don't know the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act, haven't thought about the issues related to the continuing use of child labor in U.S. agriculture, or feel discouraged about the role they can play in ending human rights abuses around the world.

Lost Futures: The Problem of Child Labor, is available from the American Federation of Teachers, with teacher's guide, for $10 (AFT members) or $15 (non-members). Email: iad@aft.org or fax: (202) 879-4502.