6th grader writes editorial in support of garment workers in Bangladesh

We all need to be a bit more like 6th grader Kayne McConnell of Shelbyville, Illinois. Kayne wrote an editorial to the Shelbyville Daily Union titled, “Upset over Bangladesh working conditions.”

He writes:

Hi, my name is Kayne. I am telling you about the garment workers in Bangladesh. They make some of the most popular clothing in America, but people are dying there.

I am only a 6th grader, but I care about these people. Like in Bangladesh, the Rana Plaza factory collapsed and killed thousands of innocent people!

Also in another factory in Bangladesh, a fire happened and destroyed the building, only two months after!

Please consider spreading awareness. These people need better work conditions.

People get killed by their boss for asking for a bandaid! They also get whipped for asking for water! I mean, can you believe these people?!

This is serious, people! Help raise awareness, please.

We are born with a compass that points toward fairness and justice, but as we get older our “own problems,” the “complexities of the world,” and apathy can lead us astray.

A factory collapsing and killing 1,134 mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers isn’t right.

Workers dying in a factory fire they can’t escape because exits are locked isn’t right.

As Kayne gets older, he’ll learn that there are complex factors that lead to such exploitations, and solutions to these problems are unclear, but I really hope he doesn’t lose that sense of justice.

(Shoutout to my cousin Brice for pointing me to this piece. Kayne is the nephew of one of his friends. Brice is always pointing me in the right direction. He’s the one who bought me a shirt that said, “Come with me to my tropical paradise” and I followed it to Honduras, where I first met people who worked in the garment industry. That led me to Bangladesh and beyond.)