Evening star., 1932-03-27
Opponents Regard Legaliz.
ing of Child Acting
Impairment Of
Opportunities.


child acting offers opportunity for the
exploitation of young people in their
formative years. They hold that the
necessary travelling which stage chill
dren undertake deprives them of
chances for adequate educational train
ing, moral development and health
protection to which twentieth century
civilization entities them. The oppo-
nents vigorously object to the measures
failure to specify a minimum age at
which it would permit children to ap-
pear on the stage. 1t Is argued further
that since acting Is a galnful employ
ment, no exception should be made for
it while restrictions on other forms OF
employment are permitted to stand
Some of the opponents see In the
amendment a threat to child labor
standards throughout the country on
the ground that as Washington goes, so
goes the Nation.
Administration of the amended child
labor law as proposed, the opponents
contend, is~at best difficult. Others
among them argue 1t is impractical and
still others hold that enforcement would
be impossible. They insist that the
amendments provisions for enforce
ment are as much part Of the meas
ure's being as the privileges it is in
bCAAdC0 W 81 dAAd OAACA CAOAC DC
as carefully weighed
The crux Of the issue is represented
as lowering child labor standards, the
absence of a minimum age limit and
the difficulty Of administration.
Burden Of Evidence.
Miss Katherine F. Lenroot. acting
chief of the Children's Bureau of the
Department of Labor, objects to the
amendment on the ground that the
amending Of the law imposes upon the
proponents Of the amendment the bur-
den of supplying basic evidence of a
need for the change and this, she
holds, the proponents have failed to
do.
II do not believe" Miss Lenroot de-
been presented which would warrant
such a change in the child labor law
as this amendment calls for, and no
backward step should be taken with
out strong evidence to justify it. In
my opinion, therefore, action on this
amendment should be delayed Such
poStponement would seem especially
desirable in view of the fact that in
legislating for the District of Column
bia Congress Is expressing the policy
OF the Federal Government and such
expression would carry great weight
with legislators in other parts of the
country
Miss Fay Bentley, director of school
attendance and work permits, who is
the off1cer OF the Board Of Education
charged with enforcement Of the child
labor law and one Of the leading op-
ponents OF the pending amendment.
mas asserted on various occasions that
child actors are akin to child mill
workers. Each group. she has con-
tended, Is subject to nervous strain and
frequently to long hours of work. II
the mills have been forbidden to en-
ploy little children, she has said so
should the theaters be prevented from
presenting young children on their
stages.
Miss Bentley has argued that al
though a child actor appears on the
stage IN formal presentation only a
lew minutes, he has been required to
put In many hours in e-trying re-
nearsals under even less savory con-
ditions than the finished performance
presents.
Hotel Life Opposed.
Miss Bentley has contended also that
the hotel life in which the stage child
exists Is not conducive to proper child
development. The stage child's chances
Tor normal recreation and child ac-
quaintanceships are reduced to a
minimum, If not eliminated entirely.
The necessity of travelling from one
city to another increases the burden
OF abnormalcy which the little per-
1ormers have to carry, she has said.
The director OF school attendance and
work permits believes that the child
6FfnFS fQ Qlo1tc % ID
victim OF exploitation by unscrupulous
parents than are the mill children"
But" Miss Bentley told The Star
last night. the most serious wrong in
this proposal to legalize child appear
ances on the professional stage here is
the absence of any age limits. Under
the amendment, child 4, 5, or 7
years Of age can be brought In here
and exhibited on the stage up to IL
o'clock at night. And that is contrary
to everything child labor standards are
erected to stand for
Asked If she would approve q child
actor amendment II it contains a mini
mum age limit. Miss Bentley replied:
If the amendment were amended to
permit only children Of l6 years of age
or over TO play on the stage here, we
could not object to it,"
AS the amendment reads now, re-
quiring the Board Of Education to de-
termine whether child actor Is re-
ceiving adequate educational oppor-
tunities, and whether the show itself is
morally At for q child actors appear
ance, before 1t grants a permit for
child performers appearance, Miss
Bentley believes it impossible Of en-
forcement. Originally the measure al
lowed the school board 48 hours in
which to satisfy itself on these matters,
but 1t recently was amended to extend
this time to 81 days.
How can we," Miss Bentley asked
last night. determine any Of these
things about the child with the child
in New York or elsewhere along the
road?"
Educational Welfare Factors.
So far as determining the educa-
tional welfare Of the child, Miss Bent
ley said 1t would be difficult because
% OF the necessity Of determining
the educational experience and quali-
flcations Of the person giving the child
actor his instruction; ca of deter
mining the specific educational needs
Of the child and whether these are
being met, and go of determining the
specific educational program-texts
used and schedule Of study hours fol-
lowed-set up for the child.
II the school authorities are to en-
force the law with the theater amend
ment, Miss Bentley is of the opinion
that additional inspectors and clerks
will be needed in her office.
The National Child Labor Committee,
with headquarters at 33l Forth avenue,
New York, points out that II States
have a minimum age limit OF IA or 16
years for the appearance of children
on the stage. which applies equally to
resident and nonresident children.
These are Alabama, Arizona. Arkansas,
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,
Louisiana, Massachusetts,, Missouri,
Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Penn
sylvania. Utah, Virginia and West Viz
ginia. The committee declares that
contrary to the claim that actors are
benefited by childhood experience on
the stage, there is no profession that
requires exploitation of children for