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Despite legal protections and advocacy, Priscillia Duhaney, spokesperson for Hear The Children's Cry, says child labour is not going away, it's simply "changing form".

"As technology increases and becomes more accessible to youth, they are performing and also becoming more self-employed, entrepreneurs at an earlier age. They are also dabbling even more so in lottery scamming which may be seen as an unquenched thirst for money, independence, and a sense of fame and popularity as part of child labour, alongside traditional means of working," she said.

World Day Against Child Labour was observed on Thursday, and, according to UNICEF's most recent data, roughly 4.6 per cent of Jamaican children age five to 17 are engaged in some form of child labour. While the figure is significantly lower than in some African nations - more than 20 per cent - concern remains high about what is considered "normal" in many Jamaican communities.

According to the International Labour Organization, child labour is any work that "is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling". It's not uncommon to see children selling at traffic lights, manning market stalls, or even wiping car windshields. But is that child labour? That depends, Duhaney says, on whether the activity "deprives the child of school, forces them to work excessive hours, or exposes them to harm".

"Light work is not considered child labour," she explained. "But one should be guided by the law and many of the children we see working on the streets fall within the scope of child labour."

She added that in many families, especially female-headed households struggling financially, child labour is framed as "helping out".

"Generally, a child that is encouraged by family members is told it's for the benefit of the family, to share expenses and payment. This often impacts the child's ability to be a child." However, she noted that some parents push their children to work for reasons beyond poverty.

"They cannot afford further education, so they see it as a way to keep the child occupied before becoming a statistic 'the devil find work for idle hands', as they say," Duhaney shared. "Sometimes it's even a strategy for discipline, teaching the child to fend for themselves, especially if they didn't do well in school." However, she said the psychological toll of early labour is often overlooked.

"The child's innocence is prematurely taken away. They are not given an opportunity to complete their education. Once they get that early exposure to money and independence, they rarely go back. They usually face difficulties in life and resent parents and society for failing them," she said.

And while Jamaican law prohibits exploitative child labour, enforcement is weak.

"When children are found under such conditions, the child is usually warned or taken from the environment, sometimes from the parent depending on the severity," she said. "But oftentimes the parent may just get a slap on the wrist. The culture is hard to divorce from."

Duhaney stressed that solving the child labour problem means confronting the root issues such as poor parenting, economic hardship, and lack of education and support.