Learning From Youths’ Activism

Students in Monroe High School’s law and government magnet have done it again. A year after a Monroe class persuaded the Los Angeles Unified School District to stop buying soccer balls made by child workers, another group of students got a similar rule passed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors earlier this month.

Each year, the county buys about 800 soccer balls--spending between $5,000 and $7,000. Most get used by young people in county parks, recreation programs and at juvenile halls. Inspired by the efforts of the Monroe students, the board’s action ensures that balls for kids aren’t made by them.

The board ordered its vendors to verify that balls aren’t produced with child labor before a sale closes. Vendors who sell balls manufactured in Pakistan--where most of the soccer balls sold in the United States are made--would have to certify annually that suppliers have signed recent international agreements that seek to eliminate child labor.

Taken in isolation, the Monroe students’ drive changes very little. But it’s part of international efforts to stamp out the exploitation of the 250 million or so children forced to work for pennies a day. Often, these drives are led by children and young people disturbed by what they read in the newspaper or see on television.

As 17-year-old Joseph Jung said: “We are horrified by the human rights abuses of young children within countries like China, Pakistan, Indonesia and others. Children as young as 6 years old are taken from their homes and put into factories to stitch soccer balls while making a meager 60 cents a day. If I was in that situation, I would want someone to help me.”

Together, young people such as Jung are learning essential lessons about democracy and about the power to create change. They are learning that, despite their age, they can make a difference. And they have. School districts and some professional sports leagues across the country are turning away from equipment made by young hands. More than anything else, though, the students are learning that life does not end at the tips of their noses, that their actions can change the lives of children they’ve never even met.

All it takes is a little will and a little time. That’s a lesson most adults would do well to study.