The class were telling the rest of the secondary pupils about their research into where many of our clothes are made. Using Tearfund's Lift the Label campaign, the class discovered that many factory workers in the Third World who make the clothes that are sold in the U.K. receive a meagre wage, work extremely long hours in often dangerous and uncomfortable conditions.
First of all, we had a quiz. Some pupils were asked to put themselves in these factory workers' shoes and imagine what they would do in certain situations. This highlighted the fact that many of these people have had their basic human rights taken away from them.
Another group used a clothes calculator on the Tearfund website to reveal that some workers only receive 0.5% of the price we pay for a pair of jeans. So, if you pay £30 for a pair of jeans, the person who made them might only have earned 15p!
Some of the boys showed a Keynote presentation outlining the horrific conditions in many Third World factories.
.
Angus explained that each member of the class wrote a letter to a high street shop and asked them to join the Ethical Trading Initiative which ensures ethical codes of conduct are in operation in factories world-wide.
Finally, Jennifer summed up the results of the action we took. Next, New Look and Tesco all replied to tell us they had already taken steps guarantee safe and fair conditions for the people who make the clothes they sell.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Lift the Label campaign, visit http://youth.tearfund.org/lift+the+label
No comments:
Post a Comment