Child Labor
Activity 1, Strategy 1 Check for Understanding Scoring Guide

1. Buildings are drab and uninviting; a loud whistle calls people to work; the noise inside the factory is deafening; it is cold and dark; the air is dusty; the machines are dangerous' there are few safety procedures in place; workers must work fast to keep up with the machines, adding to the danger.
2. Children work long hours and there is little time and energy left for other activities; families need the money to buy food and clothes, children work for less pay and are expendable so employers do little to help see to it that children are educated; children do not need an education for the repetitive work they do
3. Parents needed the extra money to support the family; employers wanted cheap labor to work in the factories; consumers wanted to keep prices of goods low; as a result people tolerated the conditions and few people complained.
4. There would have to be another source of cheap labor, i.e., immigrants; reformers would have to get the message out about how bad conditions were; technology would have to improve requiring a more educated work force, wages would have to improve so that children did not have to work to help support the family and could attend school, laws would have tobe passed requiring compulsory education, labor unions and other groups would have to campaign to get laws passed limiting or prohibiting child labor.