3071-The political economy of new slavery

168 Child Labour, Education and Child Rights Among Cocoa Producers in Ghana
sufficiently literate, have a sound working knowledge of international
conventions on children’s rights, and would want to make a passionate
commitment to this cause, betrays a certain naiveté on the part of the
advocacy groups who compiled this list. It is also strikingly at odds
with the mindset and cultural environment of most working children.
In Ghana considerable emphasis is placed from an early age on values
such as obedience, respect for parental or adult authority and hard work.
Children are strongly reprimanded if they contradict or stand up to an
adult; they have to take part in the household chores such as cooking,
cleaning, doing laundry, shopping or looking after younger children.
The Environmental Studies textbook used by children at primary level in
class two (seven to eight year olds) details ‘Our responsibilities’. It states:
’We have responsibilities. Our responsibilities are our duties. Our duties
are the things we have to do everyday as children. It is when we do our
duties well that we can enjoy our full rights. We have duties to perform
in the home, at school and in the community ... Our first duty as
children is to respect and obey our parents’ (bold in original). The textbook
then lists some of the children’s duties in the home, which include
making the family happy, taking care of younger siblings, fetching water,
keeping rooms and serving plates clean, and doing homework everyday,
and goes onto state: ‘It is our duty to help our younger brothers
and sisters to learn. Our Parents have the rights to punish us if we fail
to do household duties.’ 5 Similarly, duties to be performed in school
include sweeping and dusting the classroom and the compound as well
as weeding the school grounds if necessary. It is worth noting that
children’s tasks are generally more physically demanding in rural areas
where children are likely to have to walk longer distances to fetch water
or have additional duties such as gathering firewood. Most Ghanaian
children perform tasks many European adults would find challenging
such as carrying heavy buckets of water or killing a chicken and fully
preparing it for consumption. Almost all Ghanaian children I have met
have been hardworking, polite and even keen to perform tasks that they
see as part of their duty. Ghanaians believe it is important to socialize
children in this manner in order for them to grow up to become useful
and responsible members of society. Laziness is widely despised and a
popular inscription on the back of cars or buses is ‘Lazy man no chop’ –
that is, you will not receive your daily bread unless you have worked for
it (chop is a local word for eating). Encouraging children to participate
in household affairs, serve and help elders is an integral part of family
life in Ghana. I am frequently told the importance of serving parents in
return for them having taken care of you and the need to help siblings