According to Andrew W. Savitz’s book “The Triple Bottom Line”, “A sustainable business ought to be able to measure, document, and report a positive ROI on all three bottom lines - economic, environmental, and social” (Savitz, 2006, p. 8). Child labor is connected with all three. Child labor is a worldwide problem. It is connected with economy, because, for children, they must earn money for their livelihood in some third world country. Companies use child labor in their factories, because children do not need high wages. So, companies can get more profits. Also, in environment, most working children are working in very dangerous workplaces, because for more profits, companies do not try to improve working environments. I think that some companies, including Nike, think just how they can make more profits, so they are making these problems. Definitely, child labor is a moral problem. I think that people should keep children from workplaces for their own benefit. There are some solutions. First, we need an international guard system for preventing child labor. Second, we have to concentrate on children’s entire life situations. Finally, every person has to lead in fixing this problem.
When I searched in the internet to decide on my writing topic, I found child labor, and became interested in it. Child labor is “the gainful employment of children below an age determined by law or custom” (Child Labor, 2006, para. 1). Child labor has usually happened in the third world. Big companies, such as Nike, use underage workers to make more profits. Children are working in a very dangerous environment. In Child Labour (n.d, p. 1), more than 250 million children work in the companies. Also, most of all children work in the third world such as Asia, Africa and Latin America. To prevent this problem, in 1919, the International Labour Organizations, ILO, was created. In 1966, the child labor problem was to be world’s issue, and many associations were trying to protect children. In 1989, the UN selected to help the rights of children. There is a lot of discussion over whether child labor had to be prevented or not. Some people say that making laws is not enough to prevent child labor (Child Labour, n.d, p. 4). However, other people say that if we stop labor violations, it is a cause for unemployment and falling profits (Nike’s dilemma, 2006, para. 4). Nowadays, most people agree that we should protect children in workplaces.
Firstly, we have to make international guard systems. About ten years ago, many soccer ball companies such as Nike, Puma, and Adidas cooperated with ILO, International Labor Organization, for fixing this problem. However, Mr. Dogar of IMAC, the Independent Monitoring Association for Child labor, said that we are not able to do “24-hour surveillance,” and cover “the whole area” (Montero, 2006). It means that present organizations are not enough to solve the problem. So, we make a new international association with nations, companies and non-government organizations. That is because, according to “Child Labour”, “Though the United Nations has already created a large number of international conventions, setting legal standards to prohibit the exploitation of child labour, the problem remains widespread” (n.d., p. 4). I think that, for example, we make a big international association. Every international company and country should join in it. After that, we make international laws such as international labor standard. If some companies do not obey those, countries do not allow selling these companies’ products. If we can do that, we can make a trend of obeying these rules. Also, if we make this association successfully, we can prevent other problems effectively. It can help the third world. For example, it can teach people, and train workers. Moreover, making campaigns and books are very useful to help these countries.
Secondly, we have to concentrate on children’s entire life situations. Children’s working environment is very serious. We have to keep child workers far away from hazardous environments. For example, in factories, they work with hazardous chemical mixtures and glass bangles, and matches. Moreover they work stepping on or handling hot broken glass, stuffing cracker powder into fireworks, risking fire and explosion and carrying excessive weights (Child Labour, 2006). Although solving these problems may make third world people’s livelihoods harder than now, after several years, it will be clear that their lives are more comfortable. So, we have to support their education for their future lives. For example, if their children study hard, they will get higher knowledge and technology. These changes would give a chance for their living conditions to be more improved. In IKEA’s study, there were 22,000 children out of school in Andhra Pradesh. So, IKEA donated 18,000 tables for use in schools (International Partnership: IKEA, n.d.). For example, after war the in Korea, our livelihood was very seriously endangered. For escaping this situation, our parents concentrated on children’s education. So, in just about fifty years, our GDP, Gross Domestic Product, is over 20 thousand dollars. In the long term, for their lives and their children’s lives, they do not have to steal their children’s future.
Finally, people have to lead in fixing this problem. Nowadays, many international organizations are trying to solve this problem. However, there are still problems. It means that present effort is not enough to fix it. For example, in China, there are about one hundred eighty manufacturers and two hundreds ten thousand employees. Among them, Nike’s factories are using children to work in assembly lines (Nike finds problem in China, 2008). So, people have to do movements such as a boycott. According to Joel D. Joseph (2008), “Our purchases keep children in chains,” he said, “Don’t buy it. Tell your Senator, Congressman and presidential candidates that we should oppose the cruelest abuse of human rights: child labor” (para. 10). It is very important because if we buy these companies’ products, we will leave this problem to take its own course. There are a lot of works that we can do to solve this problem. For example, one is using internet. It is very useful. Nowadays, most people use internet and get information from it. So, we can advertise this problem and argue that we should not buy products. An other is making a child labor day, such as Independence day. Then, every year on that day, we do a boycott demonstration. It will make people be concerned about this problem continuously, and this movement can pressures companies. This movement will not be complete without every person’s effort.
Some people have said that preventing child labor will have a bad effect on children’s economic activities. They worried about unemployment and falling profits. So, they argue that children have to work for their livelihood. For example, in Sialkot, Pakistan, there were 5,000 children workers. If they lose their job, about 20,000 families could be affected (Montero, 2006). However, if their problem continues, their livelihood will be worse. Moreover their children will work at childhood, and their children’s children will work at childhood. According to John H. Cushman Jr., in “Nike Pledges to End Child Labor,” “American companies pay workers in China and Vietnam less than $2 a day and workers in Indonesia less than $1 a day” (1998, para. 6). If they just earned one or two dollars per day, their countries will remain in the third world, because they will not have economic revival without money. In addition, they will not educate their children. So, I think that we should apply a higher minimum age and pay more wages. If the minimum age rises by about 2 years, and minimum wage is raised, the effect on children worker’s families will be minimized. If we can do that, we can solve the child labor problem effectively.
In conclusion, these days, there are lots of child workers in workplaces. Also, people are concerned about human rights. Child labor is not only a problem of their lives, but also a problem of their countries and whole nations. Therefore, people should try to protect children in workplaces for their future lives. For doing that, at first, we should make a system that is able to do a 24-hour watch, because it is not possible to solve this problem without combination of governments, companies and non-government organizations. In addition, we have to concentrate on the future of children. Children are very important to their nations because they will able to make their nations powerful. In order to do that, people have to lead in fixing this problem, because there are still problems. For example, people should do movements such as a boycott. Moreover, if we can not fix this problem, their livelihood will be worse. So, I think that we should apply a higher minimum age and pay more wages. People should prevent child labor.
Child Labor (2006). Dictionary.com. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.dictionary.com
Child Labour. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/briefing/labour/index.htm
Cushman, Jr., J. (1998, May 13). Nike pledges to end child labor and apply U.S. rules abroad. The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
International partnership: IKEA. (n.d.). UNICEF. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.unicef.org/corporate_partners/index_25092.html
Joseph, J. (n.d.). Our purchases keep children in chains. Knight-Ridder. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.saigon.com/~nike/childlabor.htm
Montero, D. (2006, December 22). Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Nike finds problems in China. (2008, March 15). The Toronto Star. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Savitz, A. (2006). The triple bottom line: how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social, and environmental success-and how you can too. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wikipedia
Nowadays, most people like to find information on the internet, because, on the internet, there is a lot of information, and it is easy to find. So, many people make web sites for arranging information and definitions. Among of them, Wikipedia is a very famous web site. Jason Wolverton said, “Launched Jan. 15, 2001, it is already the ninth most popular Web site in the United States” (2007, para 9). This web site is a kind of encyclopedia. Every internet user can read and write on it. However, there is a lot of discussion about Wikipedia. Some people said that it has a problem because some information contains wrong definitions. Other people said that it is useful. I think that this web site is very useful for common people. Firstly, we can find information on it very easily. Secondly, everyone can fix it. Finally, for common people, we do not need quite detailed information.
First, we can find most information easily. According to Meredith Byers’ article (2007), “Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith,” “it frequently appears at the top of many Google searches and access is completely free” (para. 3). Definitely, it is free, and it does not require a personal account. Because of that, many people like and use Wikipedia. These days, we can see that it is translated into more than 20 countries’ languages on the Wikipedia web site. So, if you can not read or write in English, you can use Wikipedia. In Korea, we also use Korean Wikipedia, and it is very famous.
Second, everyone can write for and edit to Wikipedia. Recently, there is a lot of information and it is changed every day. We can not know all of the changed information. Jim Lengel said that there are hundreds of writers and editors, anyone can edit the article, and it is the newest encyclopedia (2006). So, we can learn the newest information from Wikipedia. If there are some mistakes, it will be fixed by other internet users. For example, in English Wikipedia, if there are some mistakes about Korean information, Korean internet users can fix it. So, I can not find wrong information about Korea on Wikipedia and we can even find not Korean entertainers who are not famous in the rest of the world
Finally, for common people, we do not need quite detailed information. There are a lot of words, and they are defined. Some professors can find small wrong information. However, I already wrote about this, because many people fixed it, it is usually right. Students do not need detailed information if it does not relate with their major. Also, it can be great guidelines for students. It contains useful resources for background information and we can find scientific facts quickly (Parry, 2008). For example, vanishing twin is a medical word. However, if we are not a doctor or nurse, it is not necessary to know this word.
As a result, Wikipedia is good for normal internet users. It is easy to find information. Also, we can write and fix it anytime. For common people, we do not need quite detailed information. So, I think that if we want to use Wikipedia continuously, we should find errors and fix them ourselves.
Byers, M. (2007, March 8). Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith. Sophian. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2007/03/08/News/Controversy.Over.Use.Of.Wikipedia.In.Academic.Papers.Arrives.At.Smith-2765409.shtml
Lengel, J. (2006, July 2). Authority. Teaching with Technology. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/article.shtml?ID=12
Parry, D. (2008, Feb 11). Wikipedia and the new curriculum. Science Progress. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/02/wikipedia-and-the-new-curriculum/
Wolverton, J. (2007, Jan 22). Wikipedia Wisdom. Valley Vanguard. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/1141
First, we can find most information easily. According to Meredith Byers’ article (2007), “Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith,” “it frequently appears at the top of many Google searches and access is completely free” (para. 3). Definitely, it is free, and it does not require a personal account. Because of that, many people like and use Wikipedia. These days, we can see that it is translated into more than 20 countries’ languages on the Wikipedia web site. So, if you can not read or write in English, you can use Wikipedia. In Korea, we also use Korean Wikipedia, and it is very famous.
Second, everyone can write for and edit to Wikipedia. Recently, there is a lot of information and it is changed every day. We can not know all of the changed information. Jim Lengel said that there are hundreds of writers and editors, anyone can edit the article, and it is the newest encyclopedia (2006). So, we can learn the newest information from Wikipedia. If there are some mistakes, it will be fixed by other internet users. For example, in English Wikipedia, if there are some mistakes about Korean information, Korean internet users can fix it. So, I can not find wrong information about Korea on Wikipedia and we can even find not Korean entertainers who are not famous in the rest of the world
Finally, for common people, we do not need quite detailed information. There are a lot of words, and they are defined. Some professors can find small wrong information. However, I already wrote about this, because many people fixed it, it is usually right. Students do not need detailed information if it does not relate with their major. Also, it can be great guidelines for students. It contains useful resources for background information and we can find scientific facts quickly (Parry, 2008). For example, vanishing twin is a medical word. However, if we are not a doctor or nurse, it is not necessary to know this word.
As a result, Wikipedia is good for normal internet users. It is easy to find information. Also, we can write and fix it anytime. For common people, we do not need quite detailed information. So, I think that if we want to use Wikipedia continuously, we should find errors and fix them ourselves.
Byers, M. (2007, March 8). Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith. Sophian. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2007/03/08/News/Controversy.Over.Use.Of.Wikipedia.In.Academic.Papers.Arrives.At.Smith-2765409.shtml
Lengel, J. (2006, July 2). Authority. Teaching with Technology. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/article.shtml?ID=12
Parry, D. (2008, Feb 11). Wikipedia and the new curriculum. Science Progress. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/02/wikipedia-and-the-new-curriculum/
Wolverton, J. (2007, Jan 22). Wikipedia Wisdom. Valley Vanguard. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/1141
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Child Labor is a Worldwide Problem.
According to Andrew W. Savitz’s book “The Triple Bottom Line”, “A sustainable business ought to be able to measure, document, and report a positive ROI on all three bottom lines - economic, environmental, and social” (Savitz, 2006, p. 8). Child labor is connected with all three. Child labor is a worldwide problem. It is connected with economy, because, for children, they must earn money for their livelihood in some third world country. Companies use child labor in their factories, because children are not needed high wages. So, companies can get more profits. Also, in environment, most working children are working in very dangerous workplaces, because for more profits, companies do not try to improve working environments. I think that some companies, included Nike, think just how they can more profits, so they are making these problems. Definitely, child labor is a moral problem. I think that people should keep children from workplaces for their own benefit. There are some solutions. First, we need an international guard system for preventing child labor. Second, we have to concentrate on the child labor problem for a long period. Finally, every person has to lead in fixing this problem.
Firstly, we have to make international guard systems. Mr. Dogar of IMAC, the Independent Monitoring Association for Child labor, said that we are not able to do “24-hour surveillance,” and cover “the whole area” (Montero, 2006). So, we make a new international association with nations, companies and non-government organizations. That is because, according to “Child Labour”, “Though the United Nations has already created a large number of international conventions, setting legal standards to prohibit the exploitation of child labour, the problem remains widespread” (n.d., p. 4). For example, we make international laws. If some companies do not obey those, countries do not allow selling these companies’ products. If we can do that, we can make a trend of obeying these rules.
Secondly, we have to concentrate on children’s entire life situations. Children’s working environment is very serious. We have to keep child workers far away from hazardous environments. For example, in factories, they work with hazardous chemical mixtures and glass bangles (Child Labour, 2006). Although solving these problems may make third world people’s livelihoods harder than now, after several years, it will be clear that their lives are more comfortable. So, we have to support their education for their future lives. For example, if their children study hard, they will get higher knowledge and technology. These changes give a chance for their living conditions to be more improved. In IKEA’s study, there were 22,000 children out of school in Andhra Pradesh. So, IKEA donated 18,000 tables for use in schools (International Partnership: IKEA, n.d.). In the long term, for their lives and their children’s lives, they do not have to steal their children’s future.
Finally, people have to lead in fixing this problem. Nowadays, many international organizations are trying to solve this problem. However, there are still problems. For example, in China, Nike’s factories are using children to work in assembly lines (Nike finds problem in China, 2008). So, people have to do movements such as a boycott. According to Joel D. Joseph (2008), “Our purchases keep children in chains,” he said, “Don’t buy it. Tell your Senator, Congressman and presidential candidates that we should oppose the cruelest abuse of human rights: child labor” (para. 10).
Some people have said that preventing child labor will have a bad effect on their economic activities such as unemployment. In Sialkot, Pakistan, there were 5,000 children workers. If they lose their job, about 20,000 families could be affected (Montero, 2006). However, if their problem continues, their livelihood will be worse. According to John H. Cushman Jr., in “Nike Pledges to End Child Labor,” “American companies pay workers in China and Vietnam less than $2 a day and workers in Indonesia less than $1 a day” (1998, para. 6). I think that we should apply higher the minimum age and pay more wages. If the minimum age rises by about 2 years, and minimum wage is raised, the effect on children worker’s families will be minimized.
In conclusion, child labor is not only a problem of their lives, but also a problem of their countries and whole nations. So, we should make a system that is able to do a 24-hour watch. Also, we have to watch these problems as a long-term project. In order to do that, people have to lead in fixing this problem. People should prevent Child Labor.
Child Labor (2006). Dictionary.com. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.dictionary.com
Child Labour. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/briefing/labour/index.htm
Cushman, Jr., J. (1998, May 13). Nike pledges to end child labor and apply U.S. rules abroad. The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
International partnership: IKEA. (n.d.). UNICEF. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.unicef.org/corporate_partners/index_25092.html
Johnson, C. (2006, September 11). Businesses ignore environmental, social bottom lines at own risk. McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Joseph, J. (n.d.). Our purchases keep children in chains. Knight-Ridder. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.saigon.com/~nike/childlabor.htm
Montero, D. (2006, December 22). Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Nike finds problems in China. (2008, March 15). The Toronto Star. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Nike sacks Pakistani supplier over child labour row. (2006, November 20). Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Firstly, we have to make international guard systems. Mr. Dogar of IMAC, the Independent Monitoring Association for Child labor, said that we are not able to do “24-hour surveillance,” and cover “the whole area” (Montero, 2006). So, we make a new international association with nations, companies and non-government organizations. That is because, according to “Child Labour”, “Though the United Nations has already created a large number of international conventions, setting legal standards to prohibit the exploitation of child labour, the problem remains widespread” (n.d., p. 4). For example, we make international laws. If some companies do not obey those, countries do not allow selling these companies’ products. If we can do that, we can make a trend of obeying these rules.
Secondly, we have to concentrate on children’s entire life situations. Children’s working environment is very serious. We have to keep child workers far away from hazardous environments. For example, in factories, they work with hazardous chemical mixtures and glass bangles (Child Labour, 2006). Although solving these problems may make third world people’s livelihoods harder than now, after several years, it will be clear that their lives are more comfortable. So, we have to support their education for their future lives. For example, if their children study hard, they will get higher knowledge and technology. These changes give a chance for their living conditions to be more improved. In IKEA’s study, there were 22,000 children out of school in Andhra Pradesh. So, IKEA donated 18,000 tables for use in schools (International Partnership: IKEA, n.d.). In the long term, for their lives and their children’s lives, they do not have to steal their children’s future.
Finally, people have to lead in fixing this problem. Nowadays, many international organizations are trying to solve this problem. However, there are still problems. For example, in China, Nike’s factories are using children to work in assembly lines (Nike finds problem in China, 2008). So, people have to do movements such as a boycott. According to Joel D. Joseph (2008), “Our purchases keep children in chains,” he said, “Don’t buy it. Tell your Senator, Congressman and presidential candidates that we should oppose the cruelest abuse of human rights: child labor” (para. 10).
Some people have said that preventing child labor will have a bad effect on their economic activities such as unemployment. In Sialkot, Pakistan, there were 5,000 children workers. If they lose their job, about 20,000 families could be affected (Montero, 2006). However, if their problem continues, their livelihood will be worse. According to John H. Cushman Jr., in “Nike Pledges to End Child Labor,” “American companies pay workers in China and Vietnam less than $2 a day and workers in Indonesia less than $1 a day” (1998, para. 6). I think that we should apply higher the minimum age and pay more wages. If the minimum age rises by about 2 years, and minimum wage is raised, the effect on children worker’s families will be minimized.
In conclusion, child labor is not only a problem of their lives, but also a problem of their countries and whole nations. So, we should make a system that is able to do a 24-hour watch. Also, we have to watch these problems as a long-term project. In order to do that, people have to lead in fixing this problem. People should prevent Child Labor.
Child Labor (2006). Dictionary.com. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.dictionary.com
Child Labour. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/briefing/labour/index.htm
Cushman, Jr., J. (1998, May 13). Nike pledges to end child labor and apply U.S. rules abroad. The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
International partnership: IKEA. (n.d.). UNICEF. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.unicef.org/corporate_partners/index_25092.html
Johnson, C. (2006, September 11). Businesses ignore environmental, social bottom lines at own risk. McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Joseph, J. (n.d.). Our purchases keep children in chains. Knight-Ridder. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.saigon.com/~nike/childlabor.htm
Montero, D. (2006, December 22). Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Nike finds problems in China. (2008, March 15). The Toronto Star. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Nike sacks Pakistani supplier over child labour row. (2006, November 20). Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved April 16, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Both Side of Child Labor
In David Montero’s (2006), “Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong?” he describes how child labor has problems on two sides. One is that labor violations such as the child labor have moral problems. He said, “According to UNICEF estimates, more than 3 million boys and girls below age 14 work in Pakistan.” (para. 13). So, many non-government associations try to solve these problems. The other is that stopping labor violations have bad effects on economic activity. In some places, children are responsible for maintaining their livelihood. For example, according to his writing, many workers in Sialkot worry that these changes will have a bad effect on their society.
I think that although the child labor may be important for children’s livelihood, it should be strictly prevented for their future life.
First, for solving this problem, all nations have to cooperate with each other. The labor violations, especially the child labor violations, are worldwide problems and global issues. Nowadays, many non-government organizations are trying to solve these problems. However, it is not enough. Most of these problems are happening in the international companies. So, countries have duties to do their work according to strict laws. If each country has different laws, we are not able to control companies.
Second, we must not concentrate on these problems for a short period. Although solving these problems may make third world people’s livelihoods are harder than now, after several years, it will be clear that their lives are more comfortable. For example, if their children study hard, they will get higher knowledge and technology. These changes give a chance for their living conditions to be more improved. In the long term, for their lives and their children’s lives, they do not have to steal their children’s future.
Finally, we have to make international guard systems. Mr. Dogar of IMAC said that we are not able to do “24-hour surveillance,” and cover “the whole area.” So, we make an international association with nations, companies and non-government organizations. For example, we make international laws. If some companies do not obey those, countries do not allow selling these companies’ products. If we can do that, we can make a trend of obeying these rules.
In the end, child labor is not only a problem of their lives, but also a problem of their countries and whole nations. So, we have to watch these problems as a long-term project. In order to do that, we should make a system that is able to do a 24-hour watch.
Montero, D. (2006, December 22) Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved March 31, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis
I think that although the child labor may be important for children’s livelihood, it should be strictly prevented for their future life.
First, for solving this problem, all nations have to cooperate with each other. The labor violations, especially the child labor violations, are worldwide problems and global issues. Nowadays, many non-government organizations are trying to solve these problems. However, it is not enough. Most of these problems are happening in the international companies. So, countries have duties to do their work according to strict laws. If each country has different laws, we are not able to control companies.
Second, we must not concentrate on these problems for a short period. Although solving these problems may make third world people’s livelihoods are harder than now, after several years, it will be clear that their lives are more comfortable. For example, if their children study hard, they will get higher knowledge and technology. These changes give a chance for their living conditions to be more improved. In the long term, for their lives and their children’s lives, they do not have to steal their children’s future.
Finally, we have to make international guard systems. Mr. Dogar of IMAC said that we are not able to do “24-hour surveillance,” and cover “the whole area.” So, we make an international association with nations, companies and non-government organizations. For example, we make international laws. If some companies do not obey those, countries do not allow selling these companies’ products. If we can do that, we can make a trend of obeying these rules.
In the end, child labor is not only a problem of their lives, but also a problem of their countries and whole nations. So, we have to watch these problems as a long-term project. In order to do that, we should make a system that is able to do a 24-hour watch.
Montero, D. (2006, December 22) Nike’s dilemma: Is doing the right thing wrong? Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved March 31, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Triple Bottom Line in Businesses
In Cecil Johnson’s (2006), “Businesses ignore environmental, social bottom lines at own risk,” he describes how the triple bottom line is important in businesses. He quotes Andrew W. Savitz’s Book, “The Triple Bottom Line.” He said that the Triple Bottom Line was “economic, environmental, social” success. In economic and social success, Nike had some problems. Nike made that children worked in their sportswear factories. One problem was that children’s cost was very cheap. The other problem was human rights. He also said that GE and Exxon have problems with the environment.
I think that environmental and social successes are more important than economic success.
Firstly, government should make laws that children cannot work. Children have to study hard, because of their future. In childhood, they have a lot of dreams for their own future. Children have rights to achieve their dreams. If children work in a company during the daytime, they do not have enough time to study. They will miss many chances to get higher knowledge and gain their dreams. Using labor of children is a serious problem for their lives.
Secondly, companies should pay higher wages to employees. Nowadays, many companies move their factories to the third world. Although, because of low wages, company can earn more money, it interrupts the third world’s development. If they earn a low salary continuously, their countries cannot grow technology. I think it is a modern version of slavery. Because of that, companies ought to ensure basic wages. Also, for their life, sorts of non-government organizations have to watch strictly.
Finally, companies have to make new technology for the environment. In these days, a lot of companies’ plants are placed in developing countries. They are not concerned about pollution, because these nations are not the owner’s countries. In the age of globalization, we have to worry about the earth’s future. It is not just simple problems. If we don’t care about it, nobody will know that we can enjoy nature only until we die. So, we should find a way to protect our nature before nature is damaged.
As a result, people such as the president of a company should not be able to use child labor for their future. Also, for balanced development, laborers working in the third world have to take higher wages. We have a mission to clean the earth because of our children. So, we had better make international laws protecting ourselves from these problems.
Johnson, C. (2006, September 11). Businesses ignore environmental, social bottom lines at own risk. McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis
I think that environmental and social successes are more important than economic success.
Firstly, government should make laws that children cannot work. Children have to study hard, because of their future. In childhood, they have a lot of dreams for their own future. Children have rights to achieve their dreams. If children work in a company during the daytime, they do not have enough time to study. They will miss many chances to get higher knowledge and gain their dreams. Using labor of children is a serious problem for their lives.
Secondly, companies should pay higher wages to employees. Nowadays, many companies move their factories to the third world. Although, because of low wages, company can earn more money, it interrupts the third world’s development. If they earn a low salary continuously, their countries cannot grow technology. I think it is a modern version of slavery. Because of that, companies ought to ensure basic wages. Also, for their life, sorts of non-government organizations have to watch strictly.
Finally, companies have to make new technology for the environment. In these days, a lot of companies’ plants are placed in developing countries. They are not concerned about pollution, because these nations are not the owner’s countries. In the age of globalization, we have to worry about the earth’s future. It is not just simple problems. If we don’t care about it, nobody will know that we can enjoy nature only until we die. So, we should find a way to protect our nature before nature is damaged.
As a result, people such as the president of a company should not be able to use child labor for their future. Also, for balanced development, laborers working in the third world have to take higher wages. We have a mission to clean the earth because of our children. So, we had better make international laws protecting ourselves from these problems.
Johnson, C. (2006, September 11). Businesses ignore environmental, social bottom lines at own risk. McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from Lexis-Nexis
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Information that you can get in the Internet
In Jo Twist’s (2005), “Controversy blights UN net summit,” she describes that the current information society has many problems. These are that getting information and making guidelines about freedom in Internet is very hard, because many countries have different level of technology. In Tunis, many participants discussed how to solve these problems. Most participants agreed that more money was needed to help poorer countries. However there are two opinions for freedom of speech. The Chinese vice premier said, “we need effective measures to fight against criminal acts.” On the other hand, the secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union says, “Freedom in cyberspace is a pre-requisite for an information society.”
I think that sharing information is very important and it is needed to make guidelines for speaking in the Internet.
Firstly, for a balanced development, advanced nations have to give money and technologies to poorer nations. The reason is that, in an information society, knowing more information is related with developing industries. So, a lot of advanced countries must make a sort of international group and helping system. For example, it is good to give computers and set up LAN. These supports can decrease the gap of getting information between advanced countries and undeveloped countries.
Secondly, important and secret information has to be controlled by international laws. In these days, information has a lot of power. If we can get all information that we want, it can make many problems. Personal information can be used in imposture. Also, technical information is very important in companies. Especially, in a stock market, information about changes in a company can cause people to earn or lose a lot of money. So, we must manage information carefully.
Finally, we have to protect many people who are well known from everybody, such as entertainers, politicians, and even common people. We can write every time, everywhere and every word anonymously in the internet. In Korea, there was big issue about a woman who did not clean up her pet’s excreta in a subway. Some people took pictures and uploaded it onto an internet board without a mosaic. As a result, many people spoke critically of her and found out her private information. Although she had a big mistake, it was not right for her to be punished by people.
In conclusion, we have to protect poorer countries because of balanced development. Also, we have to make a kind of laws to prevent damages about society and people because by managing information, we can help a lot of people who need that.
Twist, J. (2005, November 18). Controversy blights UN net summit. BBC News. Retrieved March 21, 2008, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450474.stm
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