Past & Present

Working Conditions & Child Labor Inquiry

Overview: As citizens of the United States, it is important to be aware of major topics, events, and issues that have occurred in the modern era. To that end, this task will focus on comparing working conditions/child labor from the Second Industrial Revolution with working conditions/child labor today. You will be creating a newsletter expose for the US Department of Labor along with 1-2 partners. Your inquiry presentation will be graded individually and as a group that explores the following inquiry question:

To what extent do issues and arguments regarding child labor and working conditions remain relevant today?

Inquiry Requirements:

Task 1: Research working conditions and child labor practices from the Second Industrial Revolution as well as today. You should use the suggested sites on Mrs. Tully’s website, but you are not limited to these sites. The following questions should guide your research:

1. Where were child laborers most often used during the Second Industrial Revolution? (specific

places, companies, types of jobs etc.). How about today?

2. What were working conditions like for child laborers during the Second Industrial Revolution?

How about today?

3. Why were child laborers used during the Second Industrial Revolution? Why are child laborers

used today?

4. What are the similarities and differences between working conditions/child labor during the

Second Industrial Revolution and working conditions/child labor today?

5. To what extent do issues and arguments regarding child labor and working conditions remain

relevant today?

Task 2: Expose the problem! You are a reporter for the US Department of Labor. Create a newsletter exposing the issues surrounding working conditions and child labor during the Second Industrial Revolution and today. Download and make a copy of the Google docs newsletter template from Mrs. Tully’s website.

o Your newsletter must include a 4 paragraph expose comparing working conditions/child labor during the Second Industrial Revolution with working conditions/child labor today. The paragraph details are as follows:

Introduction paragraph: Introduce the topic with a “hook” that gets readers

interested in the issue.

Historical background paragraph: This paragraph should present readers with an

overview of the issue of child labor and working conditions during the period of

industrialization. Describe the problems and why that was happening!

Current news report paragraph: This paragraph should present readers with an

overview of what’s happening today and accounts of children at work. You may

choose to focus on a specific company or place that has been violating child

labor/working conditions laws. Describe the problems and why this is

happening!

Opinion-editorial paragraph: This paragraph should be aimed at persuading

readers to take some form of action relating to changing child labor conditions.

Your writing should display an emotional involvement in the issue and definite

point of view.

2. Your newsletter must also include photographs: Photographs present accounts far more

powerfully than text. Your task is to locate 3 compelling photographs which deal with

the issue of child labor. On the first page of your newsletter you should insert a photo

that really captures the essence of the problem of using children as laborers. On the

second page of your newsletter you are to find 1 photograph of child labor from the

past and 1 from the present. Beneath each of those photos, write an original caption of

what is being shown.

Task 3: Present your newsletter expose at a mock “town hall” meeting on Friday, October 25. Each member must be prepared to speak on the following 2 areas:

1: The Problem During this session each representative will have the opportunity to come before the town hall and present the issue. You should be prepared to explain all the information you wrote about in your newspaper articles as well as answer any other questions the audience might have:

a. What problems regarding child labor and working conditions did you research and find? b. Where are these problems occurring? c. Who is involved in these problems? d. Why are these problems happening? e. How do the current problems you researched compare to the problems of child labor and

working conditions that we learned about?

2: The Solution During this session each representative will have the opportunity to showcase how they plan on spreading the word about the issue of child labor. You should be prepared to explain your photographs including the specific details you chose:

a. What does your photographs show? b. Why did you choose these photographs? What emotions did you hope to get out of the viewer? c. Who is your intended audience? d. What are you trying to get the audience to do in your opinion-editorial paragraph? e. What do you want people to take away after reading your newsletter?