Get Educated

Unlocking the answers to life’s important questions is no easy task. It is often hard to find what you need and even harder sometimes to understand what you should do with the knowledge you acquire. Learning is no easy task. It is however, the first step to taking action. Why? Because knowledge is power, knowledge lets you speak out effectively and have your voice heard. Your audience will appreciate you for your learning and you will be a better speaker as a result. So do your homework and research your issue.

Get Educated is a primer for anyone interested in learning more about children’s rights, basic education, child labour, war-affected children, child poverty, and sexual exploitation. You will find facts, definitions, background information, and helpful links to get you started.

Ask the Professor Do you have questions about child labour, child soldiers, sweatshops, war, human rights and children’s rights? We’ve got answers! Submit your questions to our online Ask the Professor feature, and Jonathan White, a professor of Sociology and Political Economy, will provide the answers. This is great way to learn about local and global issues as you continue your mission to change the world!

Children’s Rights In today’s world there are strong forces working against giving children fair and equal access to a happy, productive and healthy existence. Young people hold tremendous potential; denying them rights in the present only stunts the collective growth of generations to come.

Education If all young children were to receive a quality basic education, lasting for a minimum of four years, the problem of illiteracy would be resolved in the space of a single generation. Yet every day, 125 million young children are denied access to a fundamental human right–basic education.

Child Labour In the normal lives of families with steady and adequate incomes, parents go to work every day and children are left to play with friends and go to school. However, such is not the case for the 218 million of the world's child labourers1 who daily find themselves working long hours under harsh, dangerous and exploitative conditions.

War-Affected Children In as many as 50 countries across the globe, children are caught up in armed conflicts, not only as bystanders, but as deliberate targets. The world stands witness that in times of war, children are subjected to barbaric acts of physical, psychological, and sexual cruelty.

Child Poverty Today, nearly half the world’s 6 billion people live on less than $2 a day. The situation in developed countries, though better, is still dire. The crucial point is that poverty is an unnecessary reality that affects both rich and poor countries. In the year 2000 alone, 1.7 million children were lost because countries around the world failed to reduce poverty levels.

Sexual Exploitation One of the most important challenges Free The Children is faced with is the protection of children from sexual exploitation. Because of their special vulnerability, children are easy targets for sexual exploitation and abuse. When you add to the mix the issue of poverty and a child’s wish to support his or her family, this vulnerability is increased many times over.

Sources

1 International Labour Organization, “The end of child labour: Within reach”, 2006