The United States has always claimed to be a country representative of freedom and equal rights for all. Packers Sanitation Services Inc., a company that provides sanitation services for food processing facilities, was found to be abusing underage workers. With all the praise and glory the U.S. claims, it is critical for the country to firmly maintain this position by righting these unimaginable wrongs.

In a horrendous circumstance, the Department of Labor found more than 100 minors illegally working under dreadful conditions in over 13 different facilities throughout eight states. Many of these children were found to be working in slaughterhouses, oftentimes handling hazardous chemicals. Children as young as 13 were put to clean razor-sharp saws with these chemicals, violating a plethora of child safety laws. It is incredibly concerning to see that this issue was swept under the rug and ignored for so long in a country that prides itself on human rights and a high quality of life.

This kind of unacceptable behavior should not be tolerated under any circumstance. These inhumane events have stunned many students and staff in the RM community. “I would say I am surprised, I feel like I usually think of child labor as a problem that isn’t present in the United States, but at the same time, this just shows that there’s so much going on that people don’t know about,” senior Daniel Coxson said. Fortunately, after the incident, the company was forced to pay about $1.5 million in damages for all the children combined. This is a great demonstration of how the government and its agencies try to eliminate any form of misconduct. Such human rights violations are not tolerated and government agencies have made it clear that there are severe consequences. These actions thus highlight the progress our country has made from early industry’s exploitative practices in regard to child labor in the workforce.

After the company’s scheme was brought to light, they flimsily tried to exempt themselves from any blame or responsibility. In an attempt to feign morality, the company stated that they do not tolerate hiring anyone under the age of 18, despite it being glaringly obvious that they had continuously violated this statement. Despite their having expressed a desire to work with the Department of Labor to prevent similar events in the future, many feel extremely disappointed with the company’s lackluster response. Math teacher Patrick Wainwright said, “I think it was one of those don’t ask, don’t tell things, where we’ll look the other way and we’ll be perfectly obtuse about this…They were willing to continue even though there were things going through the cracks.”

It is also important to mention that many of the children that were found working in these factories were unaccompanied minors who had come through the southern borders of the U.S. This raises the question of where the parents of these children are, and most importantly, how they managed to be “recruited” by the company. While at the moment not much is known about the recruitment process, it’s a clear indication of the company’s negligence and complete lack of humanity.

Although the company has already been forced to pay $1.5 million in fines from lawsuits, this is not enough. There must be more powerful consequences for companies that commit such atrocious violations of human rights. “I think we should make it so that this isn’t forgotten, where people just move on after,” said Coxson. This sort of punishment does not only account for Packers Sanitation Services Inc., but for all major companies and corporations that trample human rights. This is especially important when considering the fact that most multi-billion dollar companies wouldn’t bat an eye at $1.5 million.

While the United States is a prosperous country full of growth and opportunities, we can not fail to ignore the negative things that torment the country from within. There will always be flaws and errors made, but what’s important is how we move forward. Our government has a responsibility to act against these atrocities and fix the regulatory flaws that allowed them to happen in the first place. It is also necessary that they punish these bad actors to emphasize the fact that this behavior is intolerable. While human society has displayed an incredible ability to evolve, the recurrence of incidents like these shows that a large part of our world has blatantly refused to move away from this country’s dark history of corruption and abuse.