Kids Corner

(Olive Press/Phoenicia Times November 5, 2009)

In my class we learned today about Fair Trade. This is when farmers get paid a fair wage, enough money to maybe get a safe factory, and not force children to work, and pay all their workers what they deserve so they don’t have to live in poverty. Think about a Kit Kat bar. It tastes so good, except you don’t know how it’s been handled. It could have been made by children my age (and younger) who were forced to do the jobs of adults! Maybe that Kit Kat bar wasn’t the best idea after all. Maybe next time you should try a different chocolate. My teacher’s friend gave her some information about Reverse Trick Or Treating to give to our class. The idea is: I say, “trick or treat” and someone hands me a Hershey Bar and I say, “no thank you.” Then, I hand them a piece of Fair Trade chocolate. I’m going to try to do this every Halloween until all chocolate is Fair Trade.
I guess for some kids, it’s not a problem eating chocolate that’s not Fair Trade because they don’t see children being forced to work. What if your friend and you had to get up at 5:00 every morning, and work, work, work, and get no school? Before you say, “wow, those kids are lucky that they don’t have to go to school” think about this: education is like stilts that keep you above and able to see where you’re going. Without these stilts, you would be like these kids—flat on the ground where you can’t see your future.