El Salvador prelate calls for enforcement of child labor laws
June 14, 2011
El Salvador’s leading prelate has called upon those in public office to enforce the nation’s child labor laws. An estimated 10% of the nation’s children currently work in jobs intended for adults.
“We, as [the] Church, argue that children should be educated,” said Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador. “Children must have time to study, have fun, be with their parents; it is not fair that they are asked to work, it is a form of exploitation that should never happen.”
“The lack of training of children can take them in the future to make wrong choices, as evidenced by the problem of gangs,” he added. “We have a number of orphanages, schools ... In every parish there is catechesis, concern for disadvantaged children and training for parents, but the problem is overwhelming and the Church has no resource other than the commitment of the faithful.”
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