Child labor exceptions

[YogSothoth]

The recent GOP debate where Gingrich brought up child labor raised an interesting question. I think that there are exceptions for child labor extending to farmers, right? I think I recall reading about it at one time or another.

But another thing I’ve always wondered: what sort of written law exempts kids from participating in the entertainment industry? I know I’ve seen kids on TV (unless those actors have REALLY good makeup artists), but I’m assuming that the same thing that allows a kid to work a 12 hour day on a movie set doesn’t allow him to become, for example, a cameraman or prop maker, no matter how good they are.

[dracoi]

There was a thread on this not too long ago…

In any event, a great place to start is the SAG website. They have a section for child talent and include a summary of the various laws.

I don’t know of anywhere that permits a 12-hr day for child talent in any capacity. This is one reason why twins are popular in the industry.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

See Wikipedia.

Regulation of child actors

In the United States, the activities of child actors are regulated by the governing labor union, if any, and state and federal laws. Some projects film in remote locations specifically to evade regulations intended to protect the child. Longer work hours or risky stunts prohibited in California, for example, might be permitted to a project filming in British Columbia. US federal law “specifically exempted minors working the Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws.” Any regulation of child actors is governed by disparate state law.
California

Due to the large presence of the entertainment industry in California, it has some of the most explicit laws protecting child actors. Being a minor, a child actor must secure an entertainment work permit before accepting any paid performing work. Compulsory education laws mandate that the education of the child actor not be disrupted while the child is working, whether the child actor is enrolled in public school, private school or even home school. The child does his/her schoolwork under the supervision of a studio teacher while on the set.

Additionally, the hours a child actor may work are limited. Generally, stricter time limits are imposed for younger actors. A very young infant might be allowed “under the lights” only a few minutes a day. It is common in television production for the role of a young child to be portrayed by identical twins or triplets to reduce each child’s time on set. When the child turns 18, the legal limits on work time are lifted.

Individual state laws are talked about at BizParents.org.

Or just search the Dope, since we’ve done this question many times.

[alphaboi867]

The education thing is a big deal. Any actor under the school leaving age is going to have a tutor on set; with whom he’ll be spending most of his time when he’s not actually on camera. Productions with large casts of minors can skirt this issue by filming during summer vacation.

Naturally there are a whole lot of restrictions on minors doing sex scenes or nudity, but both technically allowed (just not at the same time). There’s alot of red tape though, and usually the parent must be on set the whole time. Studios prefer to avoid the issue entirely. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was required to have his mother on set for his sex scene in Superbad because he was only 17.

[northdakotatroy]

As a resident of North Dakota (for which I was thoroughly savaged in another thread :rolleyes:) I have a little experience here.

I went to school with lots of kids who worked on their parents’ farms starting at the age of 10 to 12, and kids are allowed to drive in agricultural situations as young as 14 (kids in the city can’t get their license until they’re 16).

These are exceptions to the rule, and if the child goes to school and starts falling asleep due to their workload, or has other observable negative effects due to working too hard, the appropriate authorities are alerted.

I hope you’re not buying into Gingrich’s proposal which is simply union-busting for public sector janitorial staff. My neighbor is a retired janitor, and his pension and benefits are far from kushy.