Local teen to travel to child-labor confab Posted Tuesday, May 04, 2004 By Annie Shuppy for The Daily Iowan Local eighth-grader Kendra Halter asks for donations to a child-labor organization in lieu of birthday and Christmas gifts. Her mother, Denise Halter, said she was surprised at Kendra's wish list a few years ago - her only request was money for Free the Children, a network of children combating global child labor. "It really struck me she was willing to give up so much of her own," Denise Halter said. Now, 14-year-old Kendra's dedication has resulted in an invitation as a youth delegate to the World Congress on Child Labor in Florence, Italy, next week. She plans to join Chivy Sok, the deputy director of the UI Center for Human Rights, for the 10-day trip. Kendra is one of six students from the United States who will participate in the event. Five hundred young people ages 10-17 will share their perspectives on child labor, engage in policymaking, and strengthen their leadership skills in directing the youth movement against child labor. Sok said that while child-labor experts and policymakers will act as facilitators, the children's voices will count, not the adults'. "I think it will be a life-changing event for so many of these kids," Sok said. Kendra said she has been frustrated in the past by a lack of response from elected officials concerning child labor. Sometimes, she said, adults do not take her seriously because of her age. However, she said, she hopes that will change once she has next week's experience behind her. "I think I'll be able to come back and say, 'Here's what I've done, and here's what I want to do,' " she said. One of the ideas that Kendra plans to contribute - an interest shared by other young activists in the area - is incorporating child-labor education into public-school curriculum. "They teach us about world wars so we can learn from those mistakes," she said. "It's the same with this." Sok said children bring a different perspective to the child-labor discussion. "When adults are presented with a problem, the first question is, 'What are the parameters? What are the limitations,' " she said. "When working with children, they say, 'That shouldn't be, let's do this, this, and this.' There's a sense of not being boxed." Another Iowa City student who will be recognized at the Congress is Lucas Elementary School sixth-grader Spencer Lundquist, whose T-shirt design will be worn by the U.S. delegation. The design depicts two hands, one black and one white, breaking free from handcuffs. This article apppeared in the Daily Iowan. The original can be found here.
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