Pennsylvania Labor
Dept Gosselin
ruling described as ‘pathetic.’
One Child International-Child AbuseWatch today described the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry’s ruling on the Gosselin children as ‘shamefully little and way too late.’ One Child's CEO, Evin Daly, described the Department's decisions as 'pathetic.'
The Departments probe concluded that during the filming of ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8,’ which followed the lives of the couple and their eight children, the children were employed under Pennsylvania's Child Labor Law because of the direction they sometimes received, because of their continued participation in the series and because the Gosselins and others were paid for the show. (cns5.com)
Despite an avalanche of public concern in 2009 on behalf of the children, the parents and TLC walked away from the ruling without penalties of any kind. Labor officials ruled that at least 15 percent of the show's gross proceeds, due to the children, must be placed in irrevocable trust funds until they reach the age of 18.
Child AbuseWatch campaigned over the summer of 2009 on behalf of the Gosselin children who they believed were being financially exploited and abused through neglect. Cara, Madelyn, Alexis, Aaden, Collin, Leah, Hannah, Joel were denied work status and the accompanying protection despite their active involvement in the show.
‘It took the PA Labor Department over a year to reach a conclusion that the public was aware of from the get-go,’ Daly said. ‘Had the Labor board done their job in June 2009 the children would have been spared the public showing, and TLC’s recording, of their parent’s divorce.’ He went on, ‘Awarding the children 15% of the family revenue when they represent at least 50% of the show is an extension of their wholehearted exploitation by all of the parties involved. Based on this math each child therefore makes less than 2% each while each of the parents receives 42.5%. This is, in a word, wrong.’
One Child recommends that the children be given a court appointed guardian to monitor their on-going well-being, access to an attorney and an agent to represent their rights, the conclusion of the negotiations to be back-dated to the beginning of the show.
Child AbuseWatch wrote in 2009 that the children deserved a least 50% of the family’s revenues, arguing that they should receive up to 80% due to the children’s unwitting and involuntary participation in the commercial enterprise. They argued that each of the children and parents should have been treated as equals in receiving income which would have given the parents 20% of the reported income, the balance going into trust for the children.
One Child campaigned hard on behalf of the Gosselin children in 2009 in the media, writing to the Pennsylvania’s Department of Children and Families, the PA department of Labor, Discovery Chairman John Hendricks and TLC advertisers in an attempt to draw attention to what they described as the abuse of the show's children through neglect and exploitation. Advertisers responded by withdrawing their support for the show. Audience figures plummeted in late 2009 and the show was cancelled in the Fall.
One Child also wrote to Congress in 2009 through Senator Bill Nelson (FL) urging the implementation of a national plan for the protection of children as child labor in the media following the comprehensive state regulations of New York and California.
One Child international is a U.S.-based child advocacy group which speaks on behalf of children in the face of child abuse, exploitation or neglect. They operate the Child AbuseWatch network which provides child abuse prevention information to the public and law enforcement in North American, Canada, South Africa and Oceania.
Sources:
Pennsylvania regulators conclude TLC should have
sought permits for kids on J&K+8
(cbs4.com)
Child AbuseWatch TLC
Gosselin files:
http://www.abusewatch.net/CAN_TLC_JKFile.php
One Child International Inc.
www.1child.net. Child
AbuseWatch
www.abusewatch.net
ButlerReport
