What Are the Emotional Effects of Child Labor?
The emotional effects of child labor can be long-lasting in a child’s life as they grow into adulthood. Often, children involved in child labor experience depression and isolation because they are denied the cognitive development that naturally happens through play and time with peers. Children in child labor also have minimal or no time with family, which also plays into isolation and depression.
Dangerous working conditions often associated with child labor also impact a child emotionally.
When a child struggles with illness or injury, it may cause the child to fall into depression or grief. It is also mentally challenging for children to perform physical tasks that aren’t designed for children or are too advanced for them. Additionally, children in child labor frequently suffer from malnutrition, which impacts their mental health.
Trafficking and slave labor is also emotionally traumatizing for children.
When freedom is taken from a child, there are many psychological effects, such as anxiety disorders, PTSD, shame, guilt and more. These conditions often impact a person well into their adult years and require in-depth care and therapy.
A child stuck in child labor often has no way of seeing past it; they can’t see a different road ahead. It takes hope in order to see past current trauma.
Oftentimes, it takes an outside force to come in and bring hope to a desperate situation. Since 1979, GFA World has been such a force in Asia, creating positive alternatives for families in need. Whether through child sponsorship—where families receive helpful resources for their children—or by training parents with vocational skills, GFA World is stepping up to the challenge. Churches in Asia have become safe havens for families who need help. In these havens, families gain hope from GFA programs and also from a loving God.
Will you join us in creating positive alternatives for families struggling with difficult decisions regarding their child’s future? You can help a parent make the decision to leave their child in school rather than resort to child labor to make ends meet.
Sponsor a child today and help provide the emotional support, resources and protection they need to keep them out of child labor and its harmful effects.
