Interventions and learning of children packed in the self-service shops in Tijuana, Mexico

The purpose of this article is to examine the approaches of intervention from the institutions involved in the Programa de Atencion Institucional al Desarrollo Integral del Menor Empacador en Tiendas de Autoservicio (PAIDINILTA). This social program was implemented by governmental & private institutions as a response to the increase in the number of children who pack shopping in supermarkets & as a strategy to protect this infantile population. From the consecution of interviews with the children, parents & civil servants, & the revision of secondary data, we analyze these forms of intervention & the most significant learning of the empacadores with experience in the field is emphasized. It's argued that these approaches of intervention to these institutions should be evaluated. The author emphasizes two principal points: i) working children need new strategies of intervention to improve their labor & educational welfare; & ii) it's necessary to reconsider children, not as passive receivers of social programs, but as social actors, with the right to fully participate in the decisions that affect their life in labor, family & school. Adapted from the source document.