Child Labor

ByEileen Schreppel

Holland Patent Elementary School(eschreppel@hpschools.org)

Group Work

List some of the chores or jobs that you do in your home.

(on the paper provided)

Working in your groups, choose a character to role play. ( 10 minutes)

Factory Owner – Industrial Revolution leads to more factories and owners making money

Parent of child – immigrant from European country, large family to support, also works long hours

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html

Child – works in factory from 5 am to 6 pm (or longer)

Newspaper reporter – records each viewpoint

Class Discussion• Newspaper reporter – report your group

discussion briefly

• What is American History Public Policy Analyst (AHPPA) ?

• The purpose of the AHPPA is to help you to better understand social problems that have taken place in American history…

• …and to evaluate the public policies enacted to deal with those social problems.

American History Public Policy Analyst  

AHPPAE

Go through Powerpoint with Students to explain the Steps

Step 1:  Identify the Problem• What is Child Labor?

Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 1: Identify the Problem

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/

Child Labor During the Industrial Revolution

During the Industrial Revolution, some children in the United States and Britain were forced to go to work to help support their families. Instead of going to school, these children worked long hours in coal mines or factories for low wages. Children who worked in these jobs were often treated cruelly, such as not being provided enough food or beaten for minor infractions of workplace rules. Their work was dangerous and accidents were commonplace. Although child labor in both countries is severely restricted today, children still work at dangerous and hard jobs in much of the developing world.

http://www.learningthroughhistory.com/newsletter/archives/82007.php

Step 2:  Gathering the Evidence of the Problem

• Are you sure it is really a problem? • What is your evidence? • Some types of evidence are based on: • Primary Sources • Statistics • Articles by experts • Case studies • Surveys

Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 2: Gather Evidence

Websites for Information

• http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html

• http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html

• http://www.learningthroughhistory.com/newsletter/archives/82007.php

Step 3:  What are the Causes?

Causes are actions or conditions that produce certain results. All social problems have causes. For example, child labor was a social problem in our country during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 3: Determine Causes

Following the Industrial Revolution, factory owners favored hiring children.

They were easier to control, cheaper, and less likely to strike.

These factors caused child labor to continue to grow.

Industrial Revolution Begins

Step 4:  Evaluating the Policy

How would your group deal with Child Labor?

Look over the website on the next page and evaluate.

Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 4: Evaluate the Policy

Child Labor Laws

http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.html