Round Table Debate: Can Child Labor Be Beneficial for Children

Yesterday, we did a round table debate about child labor, why it is good, and why it is bad. There were five people in each team. The audience wrote down the arguments that debaters were saying. In preparation for the debate we studied by reading articles about the benefits of child labor and we wrote down important arguments and ideas.

                        D.F.R. and A.P. 

Fair Trade Certified

Even though some people don’t want to join the fight against child labor, that doesn't mean you can’t.The first thing you can do is look on every chocolate bar for a fair trade symbol. They should say “Fair Trade.” You can also look for “Rainforest Alliance.” If it doesn't have one of these stamps, it doesn't mean the company is using child slavery. However, companies that have investigated where their cocoa comes from and have certified that there is definitely no child slavery in their product are labeled "Fair Trade." If you are not sure if your favorite chocolate product is fair trade, go to their website or check the wrapper for one of these symbols.

For example, Fair Trade stamps look like this:



                                                                                                - E.A.C.

Reception at our School

   Two 5B students hung up flyers about child slavery and the boycott at our school with the intention of making other students join the boycott.They went around the school hanging flyers up. Upstairs, downstairs, around the halls were all filled with flyers. We even hung them up in the high school. Later, students from our class found a teacher reading the flyer.The teacher told them she would stop buying non-fair trade chocolate and buy fair trade chocolate.

   Some students dislike this and have decided to tear the flyers down from the walls and throw them in the trash. A student in 6th grade said that she saw kids saying, "I like chocolate, why should I join the boycott?" and throwing them in the trash. Later a 5th grade student saw a crumbled up flyer in the girl's bathroom trashcan.There is a happy ending to the story. The next day, we got 18 students from another 5th grade classroom to sign our protocol.We plan to make the whole school join the boycott.Will you join?  

                                                                                                   A.G.

                                                                             

Hershey Announces That They’re Going to Use Fair Trade Chocolate by 2020

Hershey’s has announced that it is going to certify its chocolate by 2020. First of all, Hershey’s announcement is part of a growing trend in the chocolate industry to go fair trade. Lots of other small companies already have 100% certified fair-trade chocolate. Also, they're doing it because they want to join their rival, Mars, who also announced they will be certifying all their chocolate. Secondly, Raise the Bar, an organization that has been pressuring Hershey’s for years to certify all their chocolate, is pushing Hershey’s to make at least one fair-trade bar by next year. Raise the Bar is also asking Hershey’s how they plan on certifying their chocolate by 2020. Finally, personally I don’t trust that Hershey’s will certify its chocolate by 2020. Hershey’s signed a protocol that they were going to stop using child labor in 2001 and 2008 but they broke both protocols. Also, Hershey’s is only using nine-million dollars to do this which is only 0.03 percent of their 2012 income. In conclusion, although Hershey’s said they're going to certify their chocolate, I have my doubts because they broke both of their previous protocols. However, I hope they are going to use fair trade chocolate.

Here is a link to a news article:

http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/10/hershey-commits-100-percent-certified-cocoa-2020/

S.O. & G.A.