Did you know that many smartphones can only be built because children work very hard for them?
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Devices Are Part Of Everyday Life
Devices such as smartphones and tablets have become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. Even children have smartphones or even two, and as soon as a new model comes on the market, many immediately buy a new one. But have you ever looked more closely at how these devices are actually made? Probably not, because most people don’t think about it. This is exactly why the human rights organization Amnesty International now wants to draw attention to it. The fact is that a lot of children have to work for the production of these devices Mines have to work. This is especially the case in the African country of Congo.
Cobalt Is Mined In The Mine
In these mines, Cobalt is mined. This material is needed for the production of batteries for smartphones and tablets. But this cobalt is not so easy to get out of the ground. For this, children there have to dig in the earth for many hours and they have to carry heavy stones out of the mine. Most of the children work there without respiratory protection, they don’t have gloves, and besides, the work in the mine is very dangerous because there are always accidents. Many children become seriously ill from this work. That is why Amnesty International now wants the companies that produce batteries to stop buying cobalt from mines where children have to work.
Explanation Of The Difficult Words:
As Mines are mines. In a mine, one works underground, i.e. below ground. Many years ago, there were mines like this in Germany, too. Coal was mined there and extracted from the ground.
Cobalt is a chemical element. Cobalt occurs very rarely and is most abundant in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa and also in Australia, Canada, and Russia.