While child labor has recently been on our agenda with child murders at workplaces, it should be underlined that the problem is not only about the right to life. Yes, according to the statement of the ISIG council, at least 81 children have lost their lives in occupational homicides this year, while it is known that there are unknown incidents that are not recorded.
Again, do we know the number of children who have lost a limb while working without resulting in death? We are discussing a structural problem in which children's childhood rights are ignored and their future is taken away along with their present.
Poverty, yes, in a system where parents cannot meet even basic needs by working, the fact that children are forced to work should be written in big buttons at the top of the child labor problem. It is no wonder that parents who cannot even send their children to public schools are concerned about the future of their children. The desire for children to learn a profession and contribute to the family budget is a realistic reason for children to be in the workplace.
According to official figures, there are 970 thousand child laborers in Turkey. The number of child laborers announced by TurkStat does not coincide with the number of unregistered children and children not included in statistical data, which is more than 2 million. According to unofficial figures, at least 12 million adults are unemployed. Is this not an indication of a contradiction? We are talking about adults not being in the labor force and children being employed.
Yes, there are also children working in the media sector who are not considered workers. This sector, which is described as a field of artistic production activity such as TV series, commercials, movies, etc. We are talking about a sector where children from the cradle to the age of 18 are brought before us with roles such as leading roles, side roles, figurations, and their lives are squeezed between home and sets and their families and themselves are shown pink dreams. Is it ever considered that the memorization of these children, who do not know the connection between role and reality, and who are asked to reflect different emotions, may lead to mood disorders?
Does the gap he left in his education with the dream of becoming an actor fit into commercials? Is it possible to become famous at a young age or does every child have the same opportunity to achieve the same popularity? In addition to the futurelessness of these children who work long hours on the sets in return for wages, there is no distinction between the damage done to their present and the mental impact of children working in industry.
Children's Rights Day can be celebrated after a child rights policy is established based on the fact that children are individuals with the same rights as adults who are not subject to exploitation.
Unfortunately, there is no child's right to be celebrated today in the world.