Teaching children about labor conditions around the world is an important step in raising a generation of globally conscious and educated consumers. This page is designed for educators who want to integrate lessons about labor rights issues into the classroom.
If there is an area where you would like to see additional resources added, or if you have suggestions on possible links or lesson plans for any of these topics, please email tim.newman@ilrf.org.
Holiday Connections Ideas
Cocoa Cultivation in Africa
Child Labor
Sweatshops
SweatFree Schools
Holiday Connection Ideas
Valentine’s Day in the Classroom is Feb 10-17, 2008. Educators around the U.S. are using Valentine's Day as an opportunity to discuss labor rights in the cut flower industry in Latin America. You can view the lesson plan here [1] and sign up to take part in Valentine's Day in the Classroom [2].
Cocoa Cultivation in Africa
Reports about the worst forms of child labor and trafficked labor in the cocoa industry have been widespread for years. Particularly in West Africa, children on cocoa farms work for long hours in dangerous working conditions, where they suffer frequent abuse and injury. The US Department of State estimates that more than 109,000 children in Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor,” and that some 10,000 are victims of human trafficking or enslavement.
The cocoa these children produce is the same used to make the chocolate that we buy our loved ones for holidays, and that millions of children eat every day. The links and lesson plans found here can help students make the connection between their lives and the lives of child cocoa workers. Students will learn that children their age are suffering as a result of the policies of major chocolate brands they see on the shelves at the supermarket, and that many child workers are denied the right to education that students in the US are given every day.
Cocoa Production: Interpreting Graphs and Data [3]
This is a lesson for Social Studies or Math teachers. The lesson focuses on interpreting graphs and data on cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire, and investigating forces and motives behind production. It includes a large group activity, small group discussion questions, and reflection questions at the end.
Cocoa Lesson News Articles [4]
This attachment contains several news articles which provide background about child labor in the cocoa industry. The articles can be used alone as research sources for students or to compliment the graph and data analysis lesson plan [3].
The Debate about Child Labor [5]
This lesson plan was designed for English or Social Studies teachers to use to help students understand the various arguments around child labor in the cocoa industry, and find facts that can be used in debate to defend those viewpoints. The lesson includes ideas for class discussion, debate, research, and composition, as well as links to resources that can be used for each activity.
Classroom Action: Write letters to chocolate companies [6]
This resource can be used to encourage students to take action after learning about child labor in the cocoa industry. In this document you will find sample letters to chocolate companies, as well as addresses of the CEOs of major chocolate companies where letters can be mailed.
Child Labor
According to the International Labor Organization, an estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world. Many of these children have been forced to give up their education and their freedom in order to work and help their families survive. What some students do not realize is that many of the toys and products they see and use each day are produced by child labor. These lesson plans and resources are designed to educate students on the reality and severity of child labor around the world, and how consumer decisions play a role in enabling or preventing child labor. For more information about child labor around the world, please visit ILRF’s Stop Child Labor [7] page.
Child Labor Poster Series [8]
This poster series, created by ILRF, contains poster images focusing on child workers in the cotton industry, agriculture, cocoa plantations, and the connections between the World Bank and IMF and child labor. Each poster also contains suggestions for how students can make a difference in each area, including letter writing and other campaign ideas.
Incorporating Labor Rights into Lesson Plans: A Guide for all Subjects [9]
This document provides ideas for unique ways to incorporate labor rights into various subjects, including math, English, social studies, history, art/music, economics, and geography. Also included is an extensive list of resources about child labor in various forms and industries, organized by grade level and by topic.
Stolen Childhoods [10]
This teacher resource guide provides basic information on various child labor issues, as well as links to other sites and reports where more information can be found. This site also includes ordering information for the full length film, Stolen Childhoods, the first feature documentary on child labor.
Child Labor Public Education Project, Grades K-12 [11]
This site includes child labor lesson plans that have been created by the Child Labor Education Project. The site includes four lessons [12] on child slavery, child soldiers, child trafficking and sexual exploitation, and hazardous child labor.
AFT Resources [13]
The American Federation of Teachers has created several lesson plans designed to integrate international issues into the classroom. Here you will find information on the various topics and lesson plans, and information on how to request copies. Particularly relevant to labor rights is the lesson plan called “Lost Futures: The Problems of Child Labor,” found at the bottom of the page.
Global Education [14]
Many children in developing countries are forced to work to help support their families, and never have the chance to go to school. This 15 minute activity and fact sheet, designed by buildOn, is designed to encourage students to think about education as a basic human right that should be available to all children, and how child labor can affect a child’s ability to go to school.
Labor Trafficking: Girls in Nepal [15]
This lesson plan is best for older students, as it focuses on the sex trafficking of young girls in Nepal. Lesson materials include an in-depth country overview of Nepal, two YouTube clips of a 60 Minute segment on trafficking, and follow up discussion questions that also tie the idea of universal human rights, as well as the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, into the overall theme. Possible essay questions are also included.
In Our Own Backyard: The Hidden Problem of Child Farmworkers in America [16]
This site was created by the American Federation of Teachers, and is designed to be a web resource for students. The site takes students through the current problems, reasons, and solution for child labor. The site also includes video clips and a photo gallery, and each page within the site provides links for further research. Also included is a “teacher resources” section, which includes several ideas for educators on how to effectively use the material on the site in the classroom, as well as various assignment ideas.
Labor in the Schools Committee [17]
The Labor in the Schools Committee, a part of the California Federation of Teachers, has developed a set of curricula available for order through this website. It includes both elementary and high school appropriate lessons, as well as other educational links.
Work Forced: Exploring Issues Facing Young Farm Workers [18]
In this lesson, students will explore issues regarding child labor in agriculture around the world. Included is a link to the article “Farm Work by Children Tests Labor Laws,” and reflection questions for the article are provided.
Adult Education Workshop: Introduction to Global Child Labor [19]
This lesson plan is mainly for high school or older age level. Materials include an educator handbook, overhead slides, handout material, and worksheets that include fact sheets and short quizzes.
Other Website Resources
- International Labour Organization: International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour [20]
- Human Rights Watch: Child Labor [21]
Sweatshops/Worker Rights
Workers all over the world suffer from unsafe working environments, long hours with little or no overtime pay, unlivable wages, harassment from management, and many other conditions that many would consider unbearable. These conditions are in part a result of corporations taking advantage of workers and their rights, and constantly pushing for lower production prices. It is important for students to understand how consumerism and corporate greed here in the US affect workers around the world.
Shop ‘til you Drop Exercise [22]
This exercise created by the Cross Border Network and STITCH is designed to show students how little pay sweatshop workers receive, and the difficulties in supporting a family with such low wages. The exercise includes a role play where students will act as families and must decide how to spend the money they make in one month.
Video Resource: Human Cost Behind Bargain Shopping [23]
This Dateline NBC report on working conditions in Bangladesh shows how corporations fuel poor working standards in other countries by constantly pushing for lower prices.
Fancying the Fulltime: Examining the Plight of Migrant Workers Around the World [24]
This lesson plan encourages students to think about basic rights that all workers deserve, and takes a close look at the lack of rights and protections provided to migrant workers. It includes examination of legal worker rights, and a related news article about working conditions in China. The lesson also includes ideas for student action after the lesson.
Sweating the Big Stuff: A Lesson About Labor Conditions Around the World [25]
This lesson plan explores how business practices of large corporations affect labor conditions throughout the world. Includes additional articles, case studies, and discussion questions.
Other Website Resources
- Clean Clothes Campaign [26]
- National Labor Committee
[27] - Global Exchange [28]
- US Labor Education in the Americas Project [29]
- Maquila Solidarity Network [30]
- Worker Rights Consortium [31]
- SweatFree Communities [32]
- United Students Against Sweatshops [33]
Sweatfree Schools
School districts often have large contracts with suppliers that make school uniforms, sports uniforms, employee uniforms, and school logo wear. Often times districts choose the supplier offering the lowest price for the clothing, which often results in support for suppliers using factories where workers, sometimes children, work for less than a living wage, often in harmful conditions.
School districts have the power to make a difference by ending contractual relationships with irresponsible suppliers, but they need to know that students and faculty care where their school clothing is being made. Many groups of students and teachers are organizing around the country to demand that their school or district consider if the companies they are using are breaking labor laws, and if so, what changes be made. Below are several links with more information about responsible consumerism, organizing efforts, and materials to get students started.