Performing Children Laws set to Change

Children perform in many areas these days: on stage in shows and plays, on television in adverts and TV programmes and as solo performers singing or playing instruments.  But, the children's performance laws have not changed since before Aled Jones hit his first note as a child star singing We're Walking In The Air. This is set to change.  The current government are looking to review child performance laws partly because of the increase in children appearing in reality television programmes.

Some programmes go further than simply performing in front of audiences.  The Channel 4 programme Boys And Girls Alone featured children between age 8 and eleven who are left alone to fend for themselves in remote Cornish cottages.  Their tasks included cooking, cleaning and general survival.

It seems that legislation regarding and protecting children in performance capacity only applies to scripted performances and this programme was not scripted so did not fall into the realms of the child performance laws.  There were 180 complaints to OfCom regarding the programme.