Modern Day Child Slavery

The following article can be found at : http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/slavery-in-cocoa-fields-a-horrible-normal/

We all remember learning about the nightmares of slavery from history where it began with the Dutch all the way to the end with the Civil War in the U.S. Unfortunately, slavery still exists and in the worst cases, children are paying the high price for slavery. Can you imagine your little brother, female cousin, or any other young little person working in the cocoa fields in the Ivory Coast working just so we can eat chocolate?

These children have become socialized into thinking that working in the cocoa fields is normal. And thats what David McKenzie and Brent Swalls, two journalists from the CNN Freedom Project came to discover. This project was meant to research whether or not the chocolate industry would STOP child trafficking.

But this was not the case once they met Abdul, a ten year old  child slave. He has been socially deprived from having a  normal childhood because he only works in the fields and does not have any human rights whatsoever. Abdul is not allowed to leave the farms, attend school, and does not get paid for ANY of his efforts. And that's just one story of many other children who's social development has been insanely stunted due to the fact that in Ivory Coast, it's become "normal" to be taken away at a young age to work for no money.

By: Jocelyn Gonzalez