Child Labor
By
Eileen Schreppel
Holland Patent Elementary School
(eschreppel@hpschools.org)
Group Work
List some of the chores or jobs that you do in your home.
(on the paper provided)
Working in your groups,
choose a character to role
play. ( 10 minutes)
Factory Owner – Industrial Revolution leads to
more factories and owners making money
Parent of child – immigrant from European country,
large family to support, also works long hours
Child – works in factory from 5 am to 6 pm
(or longer)
Newspaper reporter – records each viewpoint
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/index.html
Class Discussion
• Newspaper reporter – report your group
discussion briefly
• What is American History Public Policy
Analyst (AHPPA) ?
• The purpose of the AHPPA is to help you
to better understand social problems that
have taken place in American history…
• …and to evaluate the public policies
enacted to deal with those social
problems.
American History Public Policy
Analyst
AHPPAE
Go through Powerpoint with Students to
explain the Steps
Step 1: Identify the Problem
• What is Child Labor?
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 1: Identify the Problem
Child Labor During the Industrial Revolution
During the Industrial Revolution, some children in the United
States and Britain were forced to go to work to help support
their families. Instead of going to school, these children
worked long hours in coal mines or factories for low wages.
Children who worked in these jobs were often treated cruelly,
such as not being provided enough food or beaten for minor
infractions of workplace rules. Their work was dangerous and
accidents were commonplace. Although child labor in both
countries is severely restricted today, children still work at
dangerous and hard jobs in much of the developing world.
http://www.learningthroughhistory.com/newsletter/archives/82007.php
Step 2: Gathering the Evidence
of the Problem
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Are you sure it is really a problem?
What is your evidence?
Some types of evidence are based on:
Primary Sources
Statistics
Articles by experts
Case studies
Surveys
Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 2: Gather Evidence
Websites for Information
• http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/c
hildlabor/index.html
• http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/
Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html
• http://www.learningthroughhistory.com/ne
wsletter/archives/82007.php
Step 3: What are the Causes?
Causes are actions or conditions that
produce certain results. All social
problems have causes. For example,
child labor was a social problem in our
country during the late 1800’s and early
1900’s.
Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 3: Determine Causes
Industrial Revolution Begins
Following the Industrial Revolution, factory owners favored hiring children.
They were easier to control, cheaper, and less likely to strike.
These factors caused child labor to continue to grow.
Step 4: Evaluating the Policy
How would your group deal with Child Labor?
Look over the website on the next page and evaluate.
Click on Hyperlink for Page: Step 4: Evaluate the Policy
Child Labor Laws
http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborc
tr/child_labor/about/us_history.html