I "worked" as a child. I had chores around the house. I spent evenings and weekends weeding the household garden. We grew quite a bit of food in our backyard and many hours of my childhood were spend in that patch of dirt. No one would have considered it to be "child labor" in the sense of a child being "forced" to go to work "in the fields." And yet, what was the real difference? I did the work because I was told to do it. And it was right for my parents to require the work of me.

At the same time, I was going to school and had some (appropriate) time for recreation and social activities. I spent a lot of Saturdays working when I would have rather been playing with my friends, but I'm not sure this idea we have that children should be free to play however they like is all that great a concept.

The question I would ask of "child labor" are questions of exploitation, wholeness (are they getting any sort of education or are they used as machines who eat, sleep, and work?), and health. But these aren't questions just for child workers, but for any person who is working. There are issues of justice that should always be raised and addressed, but I don't think those issues translate nearly so easily as some (and I'm not suggesting you're doing this, Julie) into statements such as, "Child labor is unjust."

Here's the question that I wonder from time to time – if we get too focused on buying local and not causing hardship to the environment by shipping over long distances, etc, are we taking away jobs from the poor in other countries who make the goods we import? I can't figure out a way to compare American jobs and third world jobs because of the vast difference in economies.