Child Labor Is Not Cheap: A Unit for Grades 8-12 and Adults

Child Labor is NOT Cheap is a three-lesson unit is inspired by 250 million children who spend most of their days on the job, including hundreds of thousands of child workers in our hemisphere who produce goods for the U.S. market in assembly plants, called maquiladoras. In developing the curriculum, we are responding to requests from educators and students for substantive materials to address this crucial situation. Child Labor is NOT Cheap was created by the same group who produced Many Faces of Mexico and the video, Central American Children Speak. The new 40-page publication contains 27 pages of reproducible handouts, a bibliography with print, video and worldwide web listings, and clear instructions for using the innovative lessons. It is designed for grades 8-12 and adult study groups. The first lesson is based on the stunning National Labor Committee video Zoned for Slavery and original articles, arranged to be duplicated for handouts. Lesson two examines the conflict between social responsibility and "the bottom line" through a role-play exercise based on a case study of a U.S. athletic-wear firm with a plant in the Dominican Republic. The third lesson explores actions that have been taken to forge new policies and practices, and then encourages students to develop an action plan.