Investigate the Occurrence of Injuries to Rural Child Labor in Agricultural Activities in Mahidasht County

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural and Natural Resources Campus, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural and Natural Resources Campus, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

3 PhD Candidate, Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural and Natural Resources Campus, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the happening of injuries to rural child labor in agricultural activities in Mahidasht County. The study population comprised of 1. Children 5 to 18 years (N=934); 2. The parents of working children; and 3. The specialist who is familiar with rural work environment. In the first group (children), a sample of 272 members were selected using Crecy and Morgan (1970) sampling table and the stratified by random sampling method with proportional allocation. In the second group (parents), due to the lack of accurate statistics about the parents, purposeful sampling was used. In the third group (experts) the enumeration was done. Data were collected through structured questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by an expert’s panel and its reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha (α=0.88). The data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 18. The results showed that all the three communities complained primarily of physical injuries (skin disease, back pain, and knee disorders) followed by psychological injuries (tension and rough temperament, and creative destruction), socio-cultural injuries (continuance of child labor towards next generations, and learning bad language) and economical injuries (comprised of increased cost of child education, and increased health cost). Although the phenomenon of child labor cannot be eliminated in the rural environment, but observingergonomic principles in the workplace can substantially reduce the damage caused to children.

Keywords


Angoules, A. G., Lindner, T., Vrentzos, G., Papakostidis, C., & Giannoudis, P. V. (2007). Prevalence and current concepts of management of farmyard injuries. Injury, 38(5), 26-33. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2007.10.031
Aries, P. (1962). Children's country [R. Baldick (English trans.)]. London: Jonathan Cape.
Ashagrie, K. (1997). Statistics on working children and hazardous child labor in brief. Geneva: International Labor Organization.
Ashraf-Ol-Anbia Chariy Institute (2014). Child labor and its effects on the body of society. http://ashrafolanbia.ir/
Banerjee, S. R. (1993). Agricultural child labor in West Bengal. Indian Pediatrics, 30(12), 1425-429. PMID: 8077032
Bass, L. E. (2004). Child labor in Sub-Saharan Africa. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner
Basu, K., & Van, P. H. (1998). The economics of child labor. American Economic Review, 88(3), 412-27.
Cruz, R. H. (2002). National report on the results of the child labor survey in Honduras. Geneva: International Labor Organization.
Cunningham, H., & Stromquist, S. (2005). Child labor and the rights of children: Historical patterns of decline and persistence. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner.
Drusilla, K. B., Alan, V. D., & Robert, M. S. (2003). Child labor: Theory, evidence and policy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Edmonds, E. V., & Pavcnik, N. (2005). Child labor in the global economy. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(1), 199–220. doi: 10.1257/0895330053147895
Eman, S. M., Salwa, A. M., & Safaa, R. M. (2010). Impact of child labor on psychoscial development of under fourteen years in Assiut City, Egypt. Al-Azhar Assiut Medical Journal, 8(3), 252-77.
Ertiaei, F., Chizari, M., & Jafari, M. (2011). [Factors influencing rural youth, participation regarding agricultural development (Case study: Kermanshah Township) (Persian)]. Journal of Rural Research, 2(3), 56-73.
Fentiman, A., Hall, A., & Bundy, D. (2001). Health and cultural factors associated with enrolment in basic education: A study in rural Ghana. Social Science and Medicine, 52(3), 429-39. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(00)00152-0
Equity, G., & Rural Employment Division. (2013). Children’s work in the livestock sector: Herding and beyond. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Forastieri, V. (2002). Children at work: Health and safety risks (2nd ed.). Geneva: International Labor Organization.
Gamlin, J., & Hesketh, T. (2006). Child work in agriculture: Acute and chronic health hazards. Children Youth and Environments, 17(4), 1-23.
Garcia, B., & Cereceda, R. C. (2002). Hacia una política de la erradicación del trabajo infantil en México. México: DF Mayo.
Habibi, T. (2002). The cash on the CRC/legal review. Woman and Family Research Center, 16, 1-10.
Hartjen, C. A., & Priyadarsini, S. (2012). The global victimization of children: Problems and solutions. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.
International Labor Organization. (2004). Facts on child labor. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm
International Labor Organization. (2015). World report on child labour 2015: Paving the way to decent work for young people. Genève: International Labour Office.
International Labour Organization. (2006). User guide: Tackling hazardous child labour in agriculture: Guidance on policy and practice. Genève: Publications of the International Labour Office.
Jafarey, S., & Lahiri, S. (2000).Child labour: Theory, policy and evidence. Swansea: University College of Swansea.
Kalantari, S., & Kiani, M. (2005). A comparative study of child labor in developed countries and developing world. Tehran: Ettelaat Institute.
Kotb, S. A., Mohamed, A. G., Abdel Khalek, E. M., & Yones, D. A. (2011). Agricultural labor among school children in rural Assiut, Egypt. Life Science Journal, 8(2), 423-39.
Lowry, C. (2004). Children's contribution to working and caring for the land: the links between agriculture and children’s rights. Canada: Canadian International Development Agency.
Montgomery, H. (2001). Modern Babylon?: Prostituting children in Thailand. New York: Berghahn Books.
O’Donnell, O., Rosati, F., & van Doorslaer, E. (2003). Health effects of child work: evidence from rural Vietnam. Journal of Population Economics, 18(3), 437-67. doi: 10.1007/s00148-004-0197-y
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2003). Employment and Migration. Paris: Labour and Social Affairs Committee.
Schmitz, C. L., Collardey, E. K., & Larson, D. (2004). Child labor: A global view (a world view of social issues) (1st ed.). Westport: Greenwood Publication.
Pinheiro, P. S. (2006). World report on violence against children. United Nations secretary general’s study on violence against children. Geneva: United Nations.
Rosati, F., & Straub, R. (2004). Does child work affect adults’ health? An analysis for Guatemala. Understanding children’s work series. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
Weiner, M., Burra, N., & Bajpai, A. (2006). Born unfree-child labour, education, and the State in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.