It is the month of June. Scorching rays from the sun make the atmosphere like a hot furnace. The temperature is around 43 Celsius (110 Fahrenheit), but the dry air makes it seem more. I roll up the windows of my car and switch on the air-conditioner, sighing with relief as cool air flows through the car, soothing the burning sensation on my skin. Sweet, soulful music from Kenny G’s latest CD streams through the speakers as I cruise down Shahrah-e-Faisal, one of the major traffic arteries of Karachi. As the traffic light changes to red, step on the brakes and the car slowly comes to a halt. As soon as the car slows, a young boy starts wiping my windshield with a dirty rag. Another knocks on the window asking me to buy the afternoon edition of some newspaper. A third stands next to him with a bunch of roses in his hand, the look on his face pleading me to buy one. All three are dressed in old torn clothes, two of them with no shoes on their feet. I shake my head and floor the pedal as the light turns green. It is two o’ clock in the afternoon, as I return to the comfort of my home, from school. The kids will stay on the road until midnight taking home their day’s earning of less than 100 rupees.

The above scene is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Child Labour is concerned. Millions of children in developing countries (and even in developed countries) are forced to work in order to support their families. Starting at the age of five, they work in some capacity or other. Too poor to even afford enrolment in the subsidized Government schools, these kids never get a chance to unleash the potential inside them. Reliable child labour statistics are scant due to the reluctance of many governments to acknowledge the problem. The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) estimate the total number of child workers to be between 200 and 250 million, 95 percent of which are in developing countries.

What exactly is ‘Child Labour’? A former chairperson of SITE Association of Industry, Karachi, gives a very good definition: "Child Labour is the employment of children, under the age of fifteen, outside of the house, with limited or no access to a recognized procedure of education; with scant regard for health and safety, and with minimal or non-available opportunities for recreation or mind development activities. Child Labour is the natural outcome of extenuating circumstances, which evolved when the compelling forces of abject poverty, burgeoning population, and non-existent facilities of health, education and welfare, exploited the deprived and disadvantaged populace."

Many organizations and governments round the world actively campaign for the abolishment of Child Labour. However, they fail to see that in a way abolishment will be far worse for both the child labourers and their families. The web page of Save the Children Foundation, UK cites the example of Bangladesh: "Emotive responses in the past have caused more harm than good. The fate of children banned from Bangladesh’s garment industry four years ago is a case in point. Prompted by the threat of a United States bill to ban imports of goods made by children, Bangladeshi clothing manufacturers sacked all employees under 14. Deprived of much needed income, most of the children were forced to take on harmful, less well-paid work, including prostitution."

Not surprisingly most children work to support their families. A child labourer’s mother says, "No parent wants to see their child work; it is because of economic pressure and poor standards of education." For most children, this work is just a form of apprenticeship. Since they cannot afford any formal education, they get hands-on training in some skill. While it might not give them much of a chance to advance in society, they can at least earn for themselves and their future families. In fact, one of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin is undoubtedly the best example to give in favor of apprenticeship. At the age of ten, he was made an apprentice by his father in his own shop making soap and candles—honest and useful work, but stinking, dreary, and boring. He worked twelve to fourteen hours a day, six days a week, and he hated it. After two years, his father gave up on him and Ben entered the print shop of his half brother James. He did the usual apprenticeship chores of cleaning, building fires, fetching water etc. and when James let him, he learned how to set type and use the press. Quickly he became an expert in a craft that he would never tire of, even when he went on to become a world-renowned scientist and a founding father of the new American nation.

Child Labour as long as it is voluntary and the working conditions are good is not bad. If these children are deprived of the opportunity of work, and forced to sit at home, they will end up as a burden to their families and to society. They will grow up without any formal education (since they cannot afford it) and will not be skilled in any trade. Even the child labourers themselves agree. Asma, a twelve-year old girl who stitches footballs in Sialkot, says, "If people want us to go to school instead of work, they must give us money to do so, and make schools better." Indeed, if any organization or government wants to abolish Child Labour, they must first be able to provide these children with a chance for education, with an opportunity to develop skills, and improve their lifestyles. This needs total commitment.