This study investigated the relationship between child labor and students’ academic performance among secondary school students in Cross River State, Nigeria. Three research questions were posed and converted into null hypotheses. The hypotheses formulated were based on the following variables: factory child labor, maid/servant child labor, apprentice child labor, as they influence students’ academic performance in English Language, Mathematics, and Social Studies in junior secondary school in Cross River State. Correlational research design was adopted for the study. A sample of 1080 respondents was selected from the research area using stratified random sampling technique.  The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Child Labor Questionnaire”.  Data collected were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient analytical technique. The findings revealed that: there exited a significant and inverse relationship between factory child labor and students’ academic performance in English Language, Mathematics, and Social Studies. Also maid/servant child labor and apprentice child labor significantly and inversely relate to academic performance. The study recommended that families should attached some degree of importance to the education of their children as future leaders.