> I'd never let any of my kids work in a meat processing facility.
I did, both as a child and as an adult.
It wasn't driven by financial need, though, which is obviously a huge difference. In my case it was because I wanted to contribute to my uncle's small business.
I did whatever was needed at the "meat shop" during summer vacation when I was a young teen. Sometimes that was working the front desk and selling summer sausage, sometimes it was slaughtering hogs, and sometimes it was cleaning the slaughter room at the end of the day.
In return, I stayed at my family's farm during the summer. I had access to all their land and knowledge, was provided room and board, and got a small wage. I was also able to hunt that land in the fall and invite friends to come stay there during hunting season to hunt with me.
> Still 100 kids out of all the employees seems like a really small fraction
These were contractors, weren't they? It could have been all of their employees
> to the point where I wonder if these kids were all related to employees
Based on my knowledge of that community, I'd say that's extremely likely. It was probably a mix of kids working in lieu of paying for child care when not in school and kids that weren't in school for whatever reasons (including lacking documentation to get in, not knowing enough English yet, and some dropping out early due to social or behavioral issues). Most or all of their parents likely worked in the same plant.