By Sean B. Pasternak
It’s always refreshing to see Thornhill youth that are into giving something to those less fortunate, especially during the holiday season. Such is the case with Craig Kielburger.
This past April, the 12-year-old Bishop Scallabrini student founded an organization called Free The Children at his school. Free The Children, which has since expanded to include some 50 members at several local schools, are a group dedicated to eliminating child labour and the exploitation of children.
Craig got the idea to form such a group after reading a newspaper article earlier this year. The article spoke about Iqbal Masih, a youth from Pakistan forced to work in a carpet-weaving factory from the time he was 4 until he escaped at age 10.
"That article really shook me up," Craig says. "I just compared our two lives - we were the same age (at the time of Iqbal’s death last April) - and the difference between us was so overwhelming.
"At that point I decided that I wanted to do some further research into it, and then I wanted to do something about it. I made a small presentation to my class, and Free The Children was founded."
Once founded, the group began letter-writing campaigns, petitions, and fund raising activities to make their cause known to the public. Along the way, Free The Children has been supported by UNICEF, Youth Action Network (a group which recognizes the positive actions youth make), and several government agencies, both Canada and worldwide.
In his research, Craig discovered that child labour law violations take place in many industries across the world. In addition to carpets, many children in third world countries are forced to make clothing, soccer balls, matches and many other household products. Because of this, Free The Children decided to strike locally to boycott these products. "We went to (Toronto Mayor) Barbara Hall to get the City of Toronto to stop buying fireworks that were produced dangerously by child labour," he says. "They passed our proposal on September 19, and now we’re hoping to do the same with Metro Toronto and other city councils."
The campaigns and ideas begin from Craig’s Thornhill (Vaughan) home, where he holds meetings in his ’office’, equipped complete with filing cabinets, a computer and fax machine.
"The fax machine has come in extremely handy," Craig’s mother,Theresa, says. "He’s really been able to build up a worldwide network of contacts, and he’s receiving faxes constantly."
Part of the benefit of having worldwide contacts is being able to visit them face-to-face. Craig will have that very opportunity, when he departs shortly for a six-week trip to Asia. There, he will visit some of the poverty-stricken situations he has only heard about previously.
"I’m very excited about the trip," Craig says. "This will be a tremendous chance to meet with some of my contacts and discuss what can be done."
Because of his non-stop support to this worthy cause, Craig’s travel costs have been cut down significantly for this excursion. Staying with his contacts while he’s in Asia, Craig will only have to worry about the cost of his flight.
In addition to his efforts with Free The Children, Craig has been quite active in the community by speaking at the recent ’Save the Gallanough library’ campaign. He says he may be interested in a political career when he is older ("Either that or a doctor who visits war-torn or poverty-stricken nations"), and would like to ultimately work at a federal level of government.
Given his selfless head start into the world of lobbying, this 12-year-old activist could have a very good future ahead of him.
