Children in the entertainment industry and child labor laws!

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                    

LETS TALK ABOUT IT!    

You may know many channels that are being watched on a day to day basis not only by children but also by adults. On these channels there are children working to create television shows and they are in commercials and movies. These children are being taught about the work force from a very young age. The parents for these children are making a profit off of the child. Some are working long hours and not going to school to receive an education. Others attain their education at a later date, in the midst of this it is causing mental conflict with these children. Some are not receiving the true sum of money that they have worked for. You have seen these cases before, there parents are in charge of their finances until they have reached an age that they can be self sufficient enough to manage their money or hire someone to manage their finances for them. In most child labor laws they are recommending that anything that may cause harm, or put a child's life in danger will be considered breaking child labor laws. 

                                        

You saw this case with Brittany Spears and other entertainers within the industry. Others may not have thought to ask or even find out how much they should truly have within their possession from the work that they have produced. Many of these children grew up to become mentally ill and even suicidal from the life that they had to live. When you think about parents it is usually in a positive way and not a negative, when you see parents putting there children in these position nothing is really thought about beyond the fact that they are putting their child in a financial situation to have the luxury of financial freedom. No one thinks about how it affects the child/children in their personal life and their mental capacity. How long does it take to shoot a movie? How long does it take to shoot a show on television? How many hours does these children have to work in order to produce these characters that we are seeing on our television screen? None of these things are a factor and it is not talked about enough within the family or the community.

                                        

There has been more and more children stars that grew up within this lifestyle that are admitting to things that many may not feel affect them. So many are inconsiderate to this and feel that they should not complain because they are gaining fame and financial status in the position that they are in. However is fame and financial status the end all be all? What about these children mental health? What about how they feel and how does these things affect and change them as a person? There are not enough conversations about these topics and these are conversations that should be normalized with the family dynamics and the community as a whole. These young children are being over stimulated at such a young age, even desensitized, and programmed by the work they are doing. The recent issue that brought me to bring this topic to the fore front is a current situation with Romeo Miller and his father Master P (Percy Robert Miller). Romeo Miller mentioned he created rap snacks and he never received payment for this snack and believed he was going to receive payment when he reach a certain age. He only believed this because his father told him this. Unfortunately he was not receiving any payment. After brining this to light he was able to negotiate his royalties to receive his payments now. If you do not know Romeo Miller he was a rapper as a child and slowly transitioned from his rap career to seek happiness somewhere else. There are many things that he addressed within the compounds of not receiving payments for, and just receiving gifts that he father gave. He may have received some form of payments at other points within his life, however how much he may have received may not be equivalent to what his work was truly worth. This is an ongoing issue with children and their parents. Too many parents are using their children as a meal ticket to pay the bills and live a certain lifestyle. This is something that should fall under child labor laws. 

                                    

Rapper Lil Wayne (Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) had a similar issue with his label YMCMB where he was not paid the true dividends of his work, he also started to rap at a young age. He was taken in by the label owner Baby (Bryan Christopher Williams). These are common issues that happen in this industry very frequently.

Below is information about child labor laws and how it governs.

CHILD LABOUR

What is the problem with child labor?
Child labor can create many different problems in the life of a child, such as malnutrition, mental health issues, drug addiction, but also it can violate other children’s rights, like the right to education. Let’s have a look at some facts on child labor. 

• In the world’s poorest countries, around 1 in 4 children are engaged in child labor.
• Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment. Among them, 152 million are victims of child labor; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labor.
• Among 152 million children in child labor, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.

These children often work in horrible and dangerous conditions. Their rights are violated daily. In some cases there is even sexual exploitation involved and this also violates the dignity and morals of a child. It is also possible that they are separated from their parents, because they have to work in a different place from where their parents live. Sometimes children are forced to work without food and very low wages which is almost the same as slavery. These children are often also victims of physical, mental, and sexual violence.  

Why is child labor important?
Child labor has to be stopped so that every child can have the opportunity to go to school, to play and to have the best future possible. If children are working, they cannot go to school! This means that these children will grow up to be adults without any education and not being able to read or write, which means they lack important life skills. Usually, the majority of children engage in child labor are from disadvantaged backgrounds, from minority groups, or even abducted from their families. They have no protection. In addition, their employers do whatever it is necessary to make them completely invisible, so that nobody knows or cares about them. This way they can exercise an absolute control over these children. Child labor is also an obstacle to be a child, to be able to play (which you also have the right to!) and do whatever you want.  

What can you do against child labor?

• Educate parents
  Parents do not always know what big negative consequences it has when they allow or even force children to work. They only look at the short term and let the child work because they need the money for food, clothes or housing. You can educate them that in the long term it is better that the child is educated, so they can have a better job. Also tell them that the child has the right not to be forced to work! Organize a debate evening in your community in which you can share information and let parents and children talk to each other about this problem.
• Report
  Is a child in your class suddenly not coming to school anymore? Or does a friend tell you that he or she needs to work to earn money? Often there are people you can report this to: a local organization, social workers, teachers etc. Research who can help you and report the case to them so they can take action. 
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• Children’s rights: art 32 UN CRC: Children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from work that could be harmful for them. Next to that children that are working are often not going to school, which violates their right to education.  
• Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 8: The goal on Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) also provides for the abolishment of all child labor.