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Subjects (65)
Work and Labour Relations (30)

Child Labour (2)

  • Growing Up Canadian: Work
    Growing Up Canadian: Work
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    Susan Terrill 2003 46 min
    From working six days a week in a factory to serving up sundaes at the Dairy Queen on weekends, Canadian children have done it all. In the first half of the century many families couldn't get by without financial help from their kids. The nation counted on its young when it came to wartime; from joining up to fight to tucking a love note in a scarf knit for an unknown soldier, witnesses recall their contributions.

    Recollections of work include cheapskate bosses, the decision to quit and the experience of getting fired. It was tough working in the coal mines and out in the fishing dories, but even babysitters join in the complaints about lousy conditions and low pay!

    Work is one of a 6-part series entitled Growing Up Canadian. These documentaries explore the myths and realities of Canadian childhood through family life, schooling, work, play, health and the media. The series marks the contribution of childhood and youth experience in defining Canada as it grew into full nationhood in the 20th century.
  • Locked
    Locked
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    Bhimsain 1997 5 min
    On the way to school, a boy is confronted by an enormous man whose hand grabs hold of his school bag and tosses it into the air. The hand pushes him towards a huge padlock, then forces him to enter through the keyhole: the schoolboy is imprisoned in a hazardous lock factory. Like the other children inside, he finds himself forced to operate a high-speed punch press. Struggling to follow the movements of the machine, he cuts off a finger. He tries to run away, but is recaptured.

    Back at the factory he starts to cough up blood after inhaling iron particles that will prove lethal: the child dies on the job. Coldly, the hand picks up his body and drops it in the box the padlocks are shipped in, symbol of his murdered innocence. How can we live with forced child labour? This India/Canada co-production is inspired by Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the child, which particularly upholds the child's right to be protected from economic exploitation. An animated film without words for 12- to 17-year olds.

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