Children are still being robbed of their youth and their chance to do things that they love, because in many parts of the country they still have to work well before they become adults. Yes in 2024, children still work in mills and risk catastrophic injury.
Some of the kids that you find working instead of engaging in age-appropriate activities could be promising athletes or possibly develop a passion for sports if given the chance. But because of the demanding life that they live as minor workers, they don’t have the opportunity to indulge in these activities or nurture certain relationships.
How Did Teen Athlete Michael Schuls Die?
This was the case for 16-year-old Michael Schuls, who died from an injury he sustained while working at a Florence, Wisconsin, sawmill this summer. Schuls, who died two days after sustaining his workplace injury on June 29, was loved by many, and, by all accounts, was a hard-working boy who loved sports and played many.
According to CBS News, Schuls is just one of many minors who had to deal with horrible working conditions at jobs that failed to properly train them.
“This is a 21st-century problem in the United States — this isn’t a third-world country. In the United States, this is happening now. We have very young minors doing serious, hazardous jobs, using dangerous equipment,” a spokesperson for the Labor Department told CBS MoneyWatch.
Child Labor Exploitation Still Exists In America
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 57 children 15 years and younger died from injuries sustained at work between 2018 and 2022; 68 teens ages 16-17 died on the job during the same five-year period.
In Schuls’ case, he died of traumatic asphyxiation according to Florence County Sheriff’s Office reports obtained by The Associated Press. He was attempting to straighten out some wood that was hampering the conveyor belt but forgot to turn the safety button on before he got trapped in it. He was trapped for 17 minutes before a supervisor found him unconscious.
Florence Hardwoods ended up reaching an agreement to pay about $191,000 after the Labor Department looked into the child labor violations after Schuls’ death.
“There is no excuse for allowing underage workers to operate this type of machinery,” Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a statement earlier this month after the Florence Hardwoods agreement was announced. “Federal child labor and safety regulations exist to prevent employers from putting children at risk.”
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) on Tuesday announced a nearly $1.4 million fine for Florence Hardwoods LLC, following the fatal incident as well, according to the Daily Reporter.
Schulz played basketball, football, soccer, and baseball according to his obituary. But because he was subjected to working without proper training, something he shouldn’t have been doing in the first place, Schuls will never be able to put his skills to use, nor will he ever be able to capitalize on his potential in sports, or in any other portion of life.
Hopefully with more child labor laws coming into place, and people fighting for better protection for kids in these jobs as the world becomes more expensive for families to survive on just one or two incomes, incidents like this don’t continue to plague our country and rob the youth of their childhoods.
There’s nothing wrong with teenagers developing work habits and learning about responsibility in preparation for their adult lives, but the companies have to do a better job of making sure children of a certain age are not operating potentially deadly machinery.
