Consider the Source



photo: Julien Harneis via Wikimedia Commons

 Cell phones for teenagers are like gills for fish at this point, with nearly 90% of 14- to 17-year-olds now owning a mobile phone. But what percentage of those frantically texting teens know their phones -- and TVs, computers, game consoles & other gadgets -- could be connected to the systematic killing, orphaning, mutilation and exploitation of their peers in Congo?

My 15-year-old didn't, until he was asked to research "conflict minerals" (tungsten, tin, and tantalum) found in Congo and used in all types of electronic devices. Smuggled minerals, it turns out, have been funding one of the bloodiest conflicts since WWII, with brutal militia continuing to rape and kill their way through parts of the Congo and neighboring countries. Disturbed to find that our home (and pockets) contained several e-devices made by companies that haven't done much to avoid conflict minerals, my son created a "Blood Gadgets" page to push for corporate responsibility & consumer advocacy. Imagine how many (essentially enslaved) Congolese child soldiers and child mineral miners -- not to mention their parents -- could be saved if every tech-addicted teen demanded a certification system for conflict-free gadgets, so that buying a conflict-free phone would be as simple as fair-trade coffee or an organic apple.

Let Freedom Ring

Think slavery is dead? Think again. According to the International Justice League, human trafficking yields over $32 billion a year for those who "by force and deception, sell human lives into slavery and sexual bondage." Stunningly, modern-day slaves outnumber those of the horrific trans-Atlantic slave trade era -- and include, today, nearly 2 million children exploited in the commercial sex industry.

At the ripe old age of 12, now-young-adult Zach Hunter created the "Loose Change to Loosen Change" campaign, enlisting students everywhere in gathering spare change from their homes, pockets & family cars to donate to the International Justice League's anti-slavery work. The IJM works on 4 fronts: victim relief, perpetrator accountability, survivor aftercare, and "structural transformation" to prevent future abuse and enslavement.

It's so easy for kids to help. Just order "Loose Change to Loosen Chains" materials, and get started.

Labor of Love

June 12, 2010 is World Day Against Child Labour, organized by the International Labour Organization to fight "the use of children in slavery, forced labour, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, prostitution, pornography, forced or compulsory recruitment for armed conflict and all forms of work that are likely to harm the safety, health or morals of children." The ILO invites kids to get involved by organizing a book drive for children in another part of the world who are unable to go to school, writing letters to their local newspapers that explain World Day and the reasons for it (this definition & fact sheet can help), or making pinwheels -- World Day's symbol -- at school or through community organizations and signing petitions against child labor. Educators may want to use the event as a discussion starter, especially for older kids and teens, on the complexities of child labor, often bound tightly to dire poverty.