Daniela Delgado Víquez, Irina Herrera Sandino
This article aims to analyze the principles of Design Thinking and its application in the prevention of hazardous child and adolescent labor at Liceo Teodoro Picado, while also proposing a socio-educational intervention. First, child labor must be understood as a multicausal phenomenon associated with conflicts in family dynamics, low academic performance, educational lag, and socioeconomic factors. Design Thinking is based on a human-centered approach and is structured around five stages—empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and evaluate—which facilitate social innovation and collaboration among stakeholders in the search for viable solutions. The results indicate that Design Thinking is relevant to the implementation of the proposed socio-educational intervention, as the approach to this social issue includes four collaborative working sessions among stakeholders, the development of innovative ideas, and the creation of prototypes aimed at protecting this population. Finally, the article employed a quantitative approach based on the analytical method, using the Design Thinking methodology as its methodological framework.