While many students were beginning their Thanksgiving school break, students in Quincy, Massachusetts, set out to address the international problem of child labor. With the assistance of the International Center on Child Labor and Education, 27 students from the Broad Meadows Middle School organized a "Shopping with a Conscience" trip to local malls the day before Thanksgiving to speak out against international child labor.

During a three-hour shopping trip, students visited more than 100 stores in the mall and asked sales personnel if store products were made "without the use of child labor." The students then distributed signed postcards to the store managers that stated, "We love shopping at the mall, but we won't buy items unless they are guaranteed child-labor-free." 

Ron Adams, a Broad Meadows teacher who helped organize the trip, said the shopping trip was "exhausting mentally and physically, but it was nothing compared to what a typical day is like for a child forced to work." He added that Broad Meadows students "hope the word spreads up the corporate food chain that young people have started shopping with a conscience."

The students of Broad Meadows are asking other students and teachers throughout the United States to organize their own child labor awareness trips to local malls. Getting more students involved in these shopping trips may lead to changes in the labor practices of retail corporations, they say.

Teachers interested in organizing a shopping trip for students may find more information online. In addition, the International Center on Child Labor and Education can provide the postcards to distribute to stores; send an e-mail request with your postal address to blindley@iccle.org to receive a supply of postcards.