Minority Report
Miley Cyrus is but the latest victim of a long tradition in the “entertainment” business where parents, when looking at their children, see only dollar signs. Using the past as a predictor Miley has a very good chance of engaging in alcohol dependency, drug addiction or some other self-destructive behavior in the near future. One only has to step around the shattered careers of Lindsey Lohan and Brittany Spears to see two very current examples.
This tradition of selective child exploitation is not confined to just entertainment but also includes selective individual sports such as golf (Michelle Wie) and tennis (Tracy Austin/Jennifer Capriati) that have also managed to burn the youth out of children before they even leave their teens. Entertainment and sports have been given a pass from child labor laws that were designed to allow kids to be kids and to shield them from the physical and mental pressures of the adult world of work.
Because of child labor laws, children do not work in mines, on assembly lines or in other dangerous endeavors. And this is rightly so. But somehow children can work constantly with adults if they have a tennis racket or microphone in their hands. Oddities and prodigies are cultivated as trumped up minstrel acts. They dance hat in hand not just for family memories but for all, once they have paid, to see. This is seen as being fine as long as they have a tutor following them around to ensure they do their schooling. This is done notwithstanding the benefits of “socializing” and other skills allegedly given a child who participates in an organized public or private education.
The striking thing about this practice is that the parents of the prodigy are usually quite well off. It is not as if the child were in a Third World country and had to work the streets to help ensure the survival of their family. Somehow the parents justify their actions as being in the best interest of their child. The reality is this is seldom if ever the case. The child who works in the adult world is seen as an adult. And this is because regardless of who signs the contract for the child the child is being paid as an adult, competes with adults and especially in the case of sports often takes the place of an adult who would otherwise be able to compete as a professional.
So we either suspend the rules of work for everyone regardless of age or we get serious about enforcing child labor laws. I believe in enforcement. No one should be allowed to make money off the backs of children. Period.
This tradition of selective child exploitation is not confined to just entertainment but also includes selective individual sports such as golf (Michelle Wie) and tennis (Tracy Austin/Jennifer Capriati) that have also managed to burn the youth out of children before they even leave their teens. Entertainment and sports have been given a pass from child labor laws that were designed to allow kids to be kids and to shield them from the physical and mental pressures of the adult world of work.
Because of child labor laws, children do not work in mines, on assembly lines or in other dangerous endeavors. And this is rightly so. But somehow children can work constantly with adults if they have a tennis racket or microphone in their hands. Oddities and prodigies are cultivated as trumped up minstrel acts. They dance hat in hand not just for family memories but for all, once they have paid, to see. This is seen as being fine as long as they have a tutor following them around to ensure they do their schooling. This is done notwithstanding the benefits of “socializing” and other skills allegedly given a child who participates in an organized public or private education.
The striking thing about this practice is that the parents of the prodigy are usually quite well off. It is not as if the child were in a Third World country and had to work the streets to help ensure the survival of their family. Somehow the parents justify their actions as being in the best interest of their child. The reality is this is seldom if ever the case. The child who works in the adult world is seen as an adult. And this is because regardless of who signs the contract for the child the child is being paid as an adult, competes with adults and especially in the case of sports often takes the place of an adult who would otherwise be able to compete as a professional.
So we either suspend the rules of work for everyone regardless of age or we get serious about enforcing child labor laws. I believe in enforcement. No one should be allowed to make money off the backs of children. Period.
posted by tovarich at 1:25 PM
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