You may not be the first child that has handled your iPhone or Nikes. Since the 1800s, children have been shaping America, but at their own personal cost. Many children across the globe give up their childhood and risk their lives to provide a comforting life for us. The products that we use most, including Apple and Nike, have a history of employing underaged workers.

Your iPhone, in part, was built by a 13-year old who works, on average, 16 hours a day. Apple, who has been rocked with child labor claims due to Foxconn, is experiencing similar claims once again. An internal audit reveals that no less than 106 children were employed at 11 factories throughout China. 74 out of the 106 children are employed at Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics, who is responsible for creating the circuit board for all Apple products. These audits were put in place after a series of worker suicides over working conditions at Foxconn. Apple has admitted that child labor was used at some of its factories that build Apple computers. But that’s not all; Apple has been repeatedly criticized for abusing their workers that manufacture products for Apple and Nokia after being poisoned by n-hexane, a toxic chemical that causes muscular degeneration and blurry eyesight. Apple says that they no longer employ child labor, but time will tell.

Our top sports clothing brand, Nike, has formally come out and admitted that they “blew it” by part taking in child labor and also admitted that it will be difficult to end this practice, as seen in Pakistan. Pakistan has laws against child labor, but the government is doing nothing about it. Philip Knight, the company chairman, is clearly stung by reports of children as young as 10 making shoes, clothing, and footballs in Pakistan and Cambodia. In an interview with The Independent, he also tried to convince the public that Nike only ever hired children accidentally and that their age standards are very high, as they employ 18 year olds to manufacture footwear and 16 year olds to manufacture apparel and equipment. Since the allegations, Nike has seen some progress from factories that produce gear with their popular “swoosh” logo, but now their factories that produce Converse goods are picking up the underaged labor. An internal audit, which Nike released to the AP, reveals that nearly two-thirds of 168 factories making Converse products worldwide fail to meet Nike’s own standards for contract manufacturers. Some corporates are beginning to wonder if Nike is actually doing all it can to stop this practice. Old habits die hard.

What do these companies have in store for child labor is unknown, but at this moment, it seems that it has a long life ahead of it.

Where my facts came from:
Apple:
Garside, Juliette. “Child labour uncovered in Apple’s supply chain.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 26 Jan. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
“Apple products made with child labor – internal report – RT News.” Apple products made with child labor – internal report – RT News. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. .

Nike:
Bradford, Harry. “Nike Faces New Worker Abuse Claims In Indonesia.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 July 2011. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .

Reporter, Daily. “Nike workers ‘kicked, slapped and verbally abused’ at factories making Converse.” Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 13 July 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. .