In many countries children are engaged in some kind of paid work. Some people regard this as completely wrong, while others consider it as valuable work experience, important for learning and taking responsibility. What are your opinions on this? v.20

Adolescents in several nations are involved in some type of paid employment. Some individuals believe that this is absolutely incorrect, whereas, others opine that it provides relevant experience which is vital for learning and absorbing responsibilities. This essay will discuss both aspects and argue why it is wrong to engage children in paid labour. One the one hand, employment at a very young age can have several drawbacks. Firstly, there are chances of exploitation by supervisors as kids are very naive. For instance, they may be made to work for longer hours and low wages. Secondly, they may also be bullied by their co-workers causing psychological and emotional issues for them. Lastly, working children find it difficult to focus on their studies and eventually they drop out of school. Unfortunately, this hinders their overall growth and career. On the other hand, there are a few benefits to paid work. The foremost one is that they learn to value money at a young age and spend it wisely which in turn makes them financially secure adults. For children coming from very poor backgrounds, the paid employment could be an opportunity to support their family. However, children can only find manual labour. Since they lack formal educational qualifications, they cannot find a good job that secures their future. And if the job causes them to leave school, it will have disastrous consequences for their future. In conclusion, in my opinion the disadvantages surely outweigh the advantages of engaging children in paid work. Countries should have certain age limitations as to when they can work legally, so their childhood and innocence is not disturbed.