Children in commercial ads

We find many commercials use young children to promote or endorse different products, irrespective of whether or not the product advertised is meant for the consumption of children. This is an indirect form of child exploitation that deprives children of time to concentrate on study, sports, and other extra-curricular activities. Parents, who want to see their children on television or hear their voices on the radio, encourage, rather force these young ones into the advertising trade. One wonders why the law, which bans employment of children in hazardous industry, hotels, shops, and as domestic help does not cover the advertising industry. The media can do their bit by rejecting ads that show children. Our greatest natural resource is our children. Because of their unique and vulnerable position, children are denied the basic rights and wages given to adults. Children are most often employed in the informal and unregulated sectors of the country's economy, for example in agriculture, and as a result they find themselves easy targets for abuse, intimidation and sexual exploitation. Improving access to education and attacking poverty head-on would go a long way towards solving the challenges the children face. We must help them in their struggle. Child labour as an issue is closely connected with poverty, education, the distribution of resources, socio-economic structures and genderfertility related issues. Will the government look into this issue before it takes deep roots and spoils the childhood of the future citizens of the country? Gopal Sengupta Canada E-mail : gopalsengupta@aol.com