ETV Exposes the Plight of Child Labor in “Stolen Childhoods”

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ETV Exposes the Plight of Child Labor in "Stolen Childhoods"

Academy Award-winning Actress Meryl Street Narrates Documentary Which Airs This June in Conjunction with World Day Against Child Labor

For Immediate Release
May 7, 2007

Columbia SC...One would think that more than 100 years after the abolition of slavery this scourge would no longer plague modern society. But for 218 million children globally, life is nothing but work. "Child labor is the last form of slavery in the world," says Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a leading legislative advocate for global action to eliminate child labor.

Surprisingly, the problem doesn’t exist solely on foreign shores. Each year, tens of thousands of child workers migrate to American farming communities like Batesville, TX to pick our vegetables -- many earning less than two dollars per hour. “People are confused by the child labor problem in America because it is not as dramatic as in other countries...in the United States the problem is also insidious. They’re underpaid; they’re exploited; they’re not treated equitably...,” says Reid Maki of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs.

On Sunday, June 10 at 6 p.m., ETV presents Stolen Childhoods. Airing in conjunction with The International Labor Organization's (ILO) World Day Against Child Labor and narrated by award-winning actress Meryl Streep, this bold and powerfully produced documentary tells the stories of child laborers from around the world, in their own words. The ILO’s World Day Against Child Labor is June 12.

Shot in eight countries (Brazil, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, and the United States), harrowing images from the program reveal that on any given day, all over the world, children unwillingly work on fishing platforms and in pesticide-laden tobacco, coffee, and vegetable farms; in rock quarries and dumps; in rat and disease-infested landfills, and along dingy side streets practicing the world’s oldest profession -- prostitution. This population of disenfranchised workers is often hidden in plain view, without trust, hope or self-respect. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Kenyan environmentalist, says in the film, "Misusing children as workers is a form of murder. It’s a slow death - a sentence of death that you are giving to the child."

But all is not lost. The film also spotlights initiatives that remove child laborers from the workforce and allows them to attend school. The South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude that has emancipated more than 55,000 children, and Bal Ashram, a child labor rehabilitation center for former child slaves in India, give children an opportunity to reclaim their stolen childhoods. Bolsa Escola is another education-oriented social program in Brazil, Mexico, and Africa that allows children from the poorest families to attend school. This project provides a monetary stipend that replaces the income that is lost when a child attends school and is no longer available to work.

"Stolen Childhoods was made over seven years time, filming children laboring like slaves in eight countries across the globe. These kids understand two things: one, that unlike other children, their childhoods don’t count; and two, that hard work is all they will ever know," says Len Morris, the producer and director of the film.

Stolen Childhoods provides viewers an understanding of the causes of child labor, what it costs the global community, how it contributes to global insecurity and what it will take to eliminate it.

Additional quotes from the film include:

"I saw the children go to school and had a hidden wish to go with them. I saw the children being carefree and playing with each other and making noise. I felt that I should be like them and make noise as well." - Kunti Kumari, age 11, Bihar, India

"This is the breeding ground for Osama Bin Laden’s army and for future terrorists....If we don’t get these kids into school and get them a decent education, we’re going to have terrorism in the future." - Senator Tom Harkin, (D-Iowa)

Other facts and statistics cited in the film include:

218 million children work full-time instead of going to school
1 million children in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, feed the $2.5 billion retail carpet industry in the U.S. and Western Europe
69% of all child labor is in agriculture
20% of all farm work fatalities in the U.S. are children
1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar per day
Over 140 countries, including the U.S., have ratified the ILO Convention 182 which prohibits child labor

For more information about Stolen Childhoods visit stolenchildhoods.org.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.