After many long months of COVID-19, the effects of the virus are truly starting to take a toll on children in specific parts of the world. Typically, children would be getting ready every morning to head off to school. However, due to the current unprecedented times, some children need to go to work.
In March of 2020, when the world first saw the outbreak of the pandemic, India closed its schools, ultimately forcing children to go into the labor force because of the current circumstances. All of these children are an easy source of labor, and are working for mere cents without gloves or masks for protection against COVID-19.
According to The New York Times, in Tumakuru, India, instead of backpacks and books, each child now carries a filthy plastic sack. India’s children, between ages six to 14, have been sent by their parents to rummage through garbage dumps littered with broken glass and plastic.
In Gaya, India, children begin to fear that even if school does reopen, they might not be able to go because they will need to keep working to help reduce their family’s debt. Families are saying that they need their children’s wages that they earn from day to day to be able to provide for minimal food and meals.
A couple of examples from other countries include 10-year-olds currently mining sand in Kenya, 10-year-olds chopping weeds on cocoa plantations in West Africa and 8-year-olds painted in silver to beg for money in Indonesia, according to The New York Times.
Poor countries that lack computers and the internet have no option of online schooling.
In contrast, the U.S. and other developed countries decided on online schooling where millions of children will have access to education, despite the coronavirus. U.N. officials estimated about 24 million children dropped out of school, retracting hope for millions of students to advance in education in the future when schools reopen.
Article by Margaret Georgiev of Walter Johnson High School
Graphic by Khan Nguyen of Richard Montgomery High School