Is all child work bad?

All forms of child work is not bad. It is only the severe forms of child work which is considered as child labour could have dangerous and negative implications for children.

It is important to distinguish between child work and child labour,

Child work is light work that is properly structured and phased, and which does not detract from other essential activities of children, namely education, leisure and play, is not child labour. Such work is seen as ‘gradual initiation into adulthood and a positive element in child’s development’. (Fyfe, 1989)
 
Children getting involved in safe economic activities is a way of developing their skills in a vocation. It is tradition to learn vocational skills from parents by engaging and helping parents in economic activities. It could be seen as a way of developing family bonds and supporting the family.
 
Child labour is ‘work which impairs the health and development of the children’.(Fyfe, 1989) Children beyond age 12, engaging in 14 hours of productive work per week and children beyond 14 years, working at least 42 hours of productive work per week is defined as child labour. (Mukherjee, S. P., Coondoo, D., Khasnabis, R. and Banerjee, S., 2005)

Child labour cannot be considered a positive attribute. Negative aspects of child labour are,

• it is physically and morally dangerous and harmful for children
• it deprives children's opportunities for schooling
• it requires them to assume the mulitpe burdens of schooling, work at home and in other work places
• it enslaves them and seperates them from their family
• it involves work carried out to the detriment and endangement of the child (Jayaweera, S., Sanmugam T. and Ratnapala, C. 2002)

 The Sri Lankan Government has also kept provisions in the law for children to get involved in child work. Authourites such as the Department of Probation and Child Care and National Child Protection Authourity has provisions to protect children from child labour.

The core cause for child labour is poverty. In order to eradicate child labour, it is necessary to address the root cause of poverty.

It is also recommended to promote child work in the country in order to develop skills of the yongesters in a vocation.

References
Fyfe, A. (1989) Child Labour. UK: Cambridge Polity Press

Jayaweera, S., Sanmugam T. and Ratnapala, C. 2002. Child Labour and Non-Schooling Children in Selected Low-income Communities in Sri Lanka.  Colombo: Centre for Women's Research
 
Mukherjee, S. P., Coondoo, D., Khasnabis, R. and Banerjee, S. (2005) Estimating Child Labour: Some Conceptual and Methodological Issues. Kolkata: Centre for Studies in Economic Appraisal



Remnant, F. and Cader, A. 2008. Child Labour in The Multiple Dimensions of Poverty in Sri Lanka. Colombo: Centre for Poverty Analysis