This is not a case of simply hiring a couple of minors by mistake, but a nationwide corporate culture of blatant disregard for child labor laws. Even after the government began investigating, PSSI intimidated its workers into not cooperating with authorities. This is not an isolated event either, as experts say this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the child labor crisis across America.
Though bans on hazardous jobs are necessary for the physical well-being of children, child labor laws from an economic perspective may be counterintuitive. The goal is usually to protect disadvantaged kids whose parents need financial support, but putting those kids in inadequate schools rather than allowing them to work certain manual labor jobs may disadvantage them even more in the future.