STUDENTS SPARK LAUSD MOTION : MONROE TEENS LOBBY FOR CHILD LABOR POLICY.

Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer

An international incident of sorts is brewing in the corridors of the Los Angeles Unified School District - sparked by student activists at Monroe High School's law and government magnet.

After discovering that soccer balls stitched by indentured child workers in Pakistan were being sold in the United States, students successfully lobbied a Board of Education member to draft a motion asking that the district ban buying the Pakistani-made balls.

But board member Julie Korenstein's initial motion drew protests from Middle Eastern groups across the country.

``I was getting phone calls, letters from groups nationally,'' Korenstein said. ``They felt one country should not be targeted, because the practice happens in many nations around the world.

``They thought it was best to broaden the motion, and I agreed.''

Korenstein eliminated references to Pakistan in a revised motion to be made at today's Board of Education meeting.

After a call from a Korenstein staff member, Mark Elinson's international law class at Monroe decided to take out any reference to Pakistan in their scheduled presentation to the board today.

The experience made for an interesting civics lesson, Elinson said.

``We talked about how pressure groups effect politics, how that is part of the political process,'' Elinson said. ``In the end, the kids understood that it's part of the game. In the end, they were more concerned that the resolution was passed.''

But at least one student from the class - who happens to be the daughter of City Councilman Richard Alarcon - said she is upset by the way the matter was handled.

``We were saying the truth, so why should we deny that?'' said Andrea Alarcon, a senior at the North Hills school. ``We weren't singling out Pakistan; the facts just showed that 80 percent of the soccer balls imported come from Pakistan.''

``Taking out information about Pakistan weakens our argument.''

The students also lobbied, and won, a similar motion from the City Council. Last week, the council voted 14-0 to investigate whether the Pakistani products the city purchases are made by child labor. The school district is also mounting a similar investigation.

The council, meanwhile, also called for an immediate boycott of any product from any company that has been proven to be violating child labor laws set by the International Labor Organization.

``It was a slam-dunk for the City Council,'' Councilman Richard Alarcon said.

Because the inappropriateness of child labor seemed so clear-cut, Alarcon said he was upset that the LAUSD chose to eliminate mention of Pakistan.

``The school board shouldn't be telling them they should present the information like this and take out that,'' said Alarcon, who stressed that he was speaking as a parent and not in his capacity as a city councilman. ``If the board wanted to eliminate the language from the resolution after their presentation, well, they could have done that.''

In learning about the issue as part of a human rights project, Monroe students gathered information from several sources - including the International Labor Rights Fund - that found Pakistan extensively used children to manufacture soccer balls and other goods, Elinson said.

A report from the International Labor Rights Fund contends that children from ages 6 to 16 have been working 12-hour days. The children are ``often indentured, illegally, for little pay during their years of work,'' the report said.

Korenstein's initial resolution notes Pakistani children are ``sold into indentured bondage, deprived of a normal childhood and opportunities to attend school, subjected to severe physical distress working in sweatshop conditions and earn as little as 60 cents a day to stitch soccer balls.''