Abstract

Exploiting the Model Child

Child labor summons up Victorian visions of coal-smudged youngsters emerging from mines, of hollow-eyed girls toiling in textile factories. Since the enactment of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, and complementary state legislation, minors fewer than sixteen are generally supposed to be in school and those between sixteen and eighteen are barred from a number of obviously hazardous occupations. The first of theses laws, enacted in 1961, provides for court approval of any contract involving the services of a child actor or performer. Lawyers believe that the law applying to the child performer is riddled with loopholes. Though many children are both models and performers, New York law treats the two activities separately.