“The Repercussions of Child Labour in the

Caribbean”

Child Labour

Name: Phillescia JeanCourse: Communication StudiesLecturer: Miss J.SamuelCentre: Antigua State CollegeCentre No.Candidate No.

Introduction

“Let Your Children be Children” -Anonymous-

This portfolio is aimed to emphasize on the topic “Child Labor” and the theme “The Repercussions of Child Labor in the Caribbean”. According to Merriam Webster.com, child labor is defined as the employment of a child in a business or industry especially in violation of state or federal statutes prohibiting the employment of children under a specified age. It is due to the elevated concern and apprehensiveness of the Caribbean public that motivated the candidate to write on this topic. The intended purpose of this study is to inform the reader as to what numerous implications of placing Caribbean children in the labor force at an early age can have on them.

In the Exposition section of the portfolio, the researcher will be displaying a video of child labor in the Caribbean, specifically Jamaica and then briefly explain three points on the chosen theme. The three points the researcher has chosen to enlighten on are: Health, Education, and Prostitution. In addition, the researcher will provide further details on the theme in the reflection segment.

How theme relates to academic interest: The candidate is pursuing an associate’s degree in sociology. As a result the researcher will be able to provide a great interpretation of the social issue which is from a consistent standpoint in sociology.

How theme relates to personal interests: The researcher having visualized the effect of child labor on a close friend greatly believes that the issue should be taken into consideration very soon, in order for the problem to be eradicated.

How theme relates to work interests: The candidate is seeking to work in the job sector that deals with children, particularly a welfare agent; therefore the theme is a suitable theme as it relates to the desired field.

REFLECTION

PREFACE

The researcher chose to write the reflection section in the form of a narrative piece entitled “The

32 year old child”, where the fundamental purpose of it is to focus on informing the audience

about the severe repercussions of child labor in the Caribbean in addition with influencing the

envisioned audience to help put a stop to child labor. The main character in the narrative piece is

the individual who will be faced with the severe effects of child labour and struggles to find an

escape from this situation. Different settings were used in this story: the hospital (ER), the

factory, and the character’s home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

The narrative piece is aimed at preferably individuals over the age of 13 as some of the content

utilized in the story may be misinterpreted by the younger folks as they are less likely to

comprehend the terms being used and not being able to actually understand what is happening.

Three target audience groups were created: Parents, Potential parents, and Guardians because it

will educate them as to why they should avoid involving their children in child labour as it may

put their lives in danger and also it is the persons themselves who are watching over the kids who

are the ones that can have the final say as to whether or not they would want their child to be

involved in such activities.

The 32-year-old child

Have you ever thought to yourself that this time would actually come? That time when you'd

yearn to be free? Free from all the burdens that chain you down? Free from all the demons you

face day to day? I suppose not, because one can never really be free, not in this world. Joanna

Mills is proof enough to such a statement.

This is the story of Joanna Mills, a petite 14 year old girl who lived on a hilltop in the small

village of Sainte Anne in Guadeloupe, had spent 5 months of her life in disappointment and

melancholy. From sunset to sunset she wandered momentarily as to whether or not she should

see the upcoming month again in this depressing state or if she should immediately find a

relieving way out of this condition. Oh how Joanna longed to be a beautiful girl again or ‘belle

fille’ as her natives would say, but she couldn’t be bothered with the grooming routine anymore

as she was just too easily fatigued.

“Mes jours de Cendrillon sont plus/My Cinderella days are over.” she thought to herself as she

passed her pale, skinny fingers through her disheveled hair.

It only took one glance at her face to spot the uneven creases on her fore head, one look at her

back to realize that it’s outward rather than inward, one glimpse at her lips to identify its

swollenness, and one peep at her feet to recognize how scaly and black it was. Any normal

person would have questioned Joanna’s age as she gradually began to appear older than she

actually was. However the truth hides in the fact that Joanna was a 14 year old girl living the life

of a 32 year old female.

Every Monday morning, at 9:30am Joanna peeked through her wooden windows to observe the

school going girls in their neatly dressed blue jeans and white polo shirts with their blue and

white floral ribbons tied in bows. She pressed her hand against the window frame as she wished

that she could grasp this opportunity once again. Then all dreams were squashed when her

mother, Dame would barge into her room and rush her to head out to do her general checkups at

the ER. The school girls would head south, but sadly Joanna would turn her back and head north.

Every time Joanna contemplated of the horrors and harshness of looking at the blood stained,

ceramic, white tiles in the ER are about to end, the contractions she felt in her empty stomach

became more and more excruciating. She wondered when this pain is about to end, when will she

be free of this ‘curse’- because what else could it be? Anything that brings this much pain and

suffering cannot be anything else but a curse. And when she finally received a break, she would

sigh in relief, rest her swollen and battered feet on a high and soft surface and rub her tummy as

she longed for this moment to last, but she knows in her heart it will not. After she left the

hospital room to head on home, her head is positioned down and remains fixed to the floor as she

did not see the reason to lift her head high and smile anymore.

“Maison doux maison ?, Je continue à la recherche de la partie douce/ Home sweet home? I keep

on searching for the sweet part.” sobbed Joanna in a frustrated tone.

She made her way through the brown front door and placed the green and white paper from the

doctor’s office on the family table as that’s what they’ve all been waiting for.

Without a doubt the Tuesday mornings for Joanna were like discovering that the light at the end

of the tunnel is the headlight of an oncoming train. Rest aggressively called Joanna’s name at

night, even to the point where she could hear a voice saying, “come to me Joanna” but sadly

when reality would kick she only found herself gazing and longing to lay her body on that small

but comfy bed; she wished that she could’ve lain on that bed without feeling so agitated and

restless. Nevertheless Joanna had to suck up all the misery and throw on her bleached stained

clothing and famous black rubber boots before the clock touched 5am. But suddenly Joanna

belly started to speak and she speedily visited her most favourite place in the house; the big,

white, round bowl, ‘la toilette.’ After her date with the toilet was over, she then made her way to

the shoe factory to pick up some tiny shoes. One by one as Joanna picked up different brands of

shoes in different aisles in the factory her perspiring effect became worst.

“Ou toujours ka sweay wii Joanna/ You always sweating wii Joanna.” stated her Dominican

friend, Lisa, in broken French, as she courteously handed a tissue to Joanna.

People, who saw Joanna and the way she was, always perspiring, would think that she was just

an ordinary child who ran about too much for the day, only if that was the case.

That day arrived, Wednesday morning at 8:30 am sharp when Joanna was convinced that a

doctor’s visit was necessary. Dr. Jones, the village general practitioner enquired about Joanna’s

condition and was shocked by the results that he received.

“My dear Joanna, the symptoms you possess are:

1) Swollen stomach

2) Easily fatigued

3) Swollen lips

4) Swollen and black feet

5) Outward back

6) Contractions

7) Nausea

8) Hot Flashes/Perspiring

“These are all symptoms of Malnutrition, Exhaustion, Sleeping disorder insomnia, Lead and

carbon monoxide poisoning, and Bone deformity. All of which are severe repercussions of child

labour. At this rate Joanna, if you continue to immerse yourself in such environments, the

consequences will be catastrophic. And I’m afraid by then, nothing can be done.”

Joanna listened to the good doctor as he gave her diagnosis and some pills that would alleviate

the pain and minimize her symptoms. All would be well as long as she followed the doctor’s

orders and made sure to take the prescribed amount daily- no more, no less. She left the doctor’s

office and thought about what Dr. Jones said to her. Joanna sat and thought about her life and

how it had been thrown away by cleaning up every inch of the ER on Monday mornings and

cleaning, manufacturing, and fixing shoes in the factory on Tuesday mornings; all of which

placed her life at steak. She thought for a moment that if maybe, just maybe if she were to double

the prescriptions then she just might be able to work through the pain.

Joanna continued on as she had before, completely disregarding the doctor’s orders by popping

pills furiously, as she tried desperately to take the edge off. She kept on feeling weaker and

weaker, convincing herself that the medication wasn’t working, so she decided that desperate

times called for desperate measures so she upped the dosage. Joanna suddenly felt a peace she

had never felt before and she embraced it and let it caress her as she drifted off into oblivion.

In the 21st century I was immensely convinced that child labour was no longer in existence.

When I take a look at the young people of this day and those younger than myself I think that it

is actually the other way around; that parents are the ones suffering the austerity of increased

labour and parents have become slaves to their own children and they have become their masters.

But this is not entirely true, child labour truly exists right here in our sweet Caribbean, probably

not as rampant as before; but it certainly is…..HELP STOP CHILD LABOUR!

This was the story of Joanna Mills. – Dr Jones.

ANALYSIS

The reflective piece “The 32 year old child” delineates the severe repercussions of child labour faced by a teenager who spent half of her life working in an ER and a factory. The author utilized several mixtures of the elements of communication. Nevertheless, only two elements will be examined, specifically: dialectal variation and communicative behaviour.

Dialectal variation as stated on the CAPE-commstudies.blogspot.com website is the “changes in language due to various influences.” In the narrative piece dialectal variation was spoken by the characters. Joanna used the acrolect variation (Standard French) when she had her intrapersonal communication saying “Mes jours de Cendrillon sont plus.” After the acrolect comes the basilect variation (complete patois/creole) which was utilized by Lisa when she said “Ou toujours ka sweay wii Joanna.” The use of the basilect variation by Lisa illustrates a form of informality between the girls in terms of their relationship.

Communicative behavior as described on the CAPE-commstudybuddy.blogspot.com website is “basically what is communicated to the listener by the speaker. It’s the impression that they get. The speaker may be unaware of these impressions but they say a lot about a person.” The five levels of communicative behaviour recognized are: Vocalics, Proxemics, Artifacts, Kinesics, and Chronemics. Vocalics (how loud/fast the speaker talks, their tone/pitch of voice) is utilized by Joanna when she was crying as depicted in this example “[crying] “Maison doux maison? Je continue à la recherche de la partie douce.” The fact that Joanna was crying suggests that she was frustrated and angry. Artifacts (the speaker’s use of objects to relate a message) is noticed in the story when the author described Joanna’s clothing in this case “…and throw on her bleached stained clothing and famous black rubber boots.” Her type of clothing suggests that she is not a fashionable person or maybe she does not care how she looks. Furthermore, kinesics (the speaker’s use of body language, facial expression, posture and eye contact in speech) is another type of communicative behaviour visible in the narrative piece as shown in this sample “her head is positioned down and remains fixed to the floor.” Due to the fact that Joanna walked with her head down implies that she is ashamed and unhappy. Ultimately, chronemics (the speaker's attitude or use of time) is also seen in the story in this example “…before the clock touched 5am.” Joanna was young but that did not stop her from being punctual. From the story it was evident that Joanna made sure that she was punctual for work.

CONCLUSION

“Buildings are built on big big lands, Work is done by tiny tiny hands.” It is quite evident that the writer reinforced her purpose by highlighting the deadly facts and effects behind child labour. The use of the elements serves to draw the audience attention to be able to maintain their interest and also to grasp their understanding. The author was effective in encouraging and inspiring the readers to help put a stop to child labour throughout the entire project, which was further strengthened through the creation of the reflective piece.