A Minor Consideration for Jon and Kate
Aug 31st, 2008 by BohemianMoon
About the same time I started researching entertainment industry labor laws for children, I was also contacting child advocacy groups in regard to the Gosselin children and Jon and Kate Plus Eight. As a result of that research, I happened across a site called “A Minor Consideration”.
Headed by former child actor Paul Petersen, A Minor Consideration is a organization that supports children in the entertainment industry through education, legislation, intervention and other means. The organization also helps child actors, former and present, to transition out of show business into higher education and/or other careers.
I wrote Mr. Petersen with my concerns regarding the program – the children’s ages first and foremost, being filmed at all hours of the day and night, working long hours under the guise of “just documenting their daily lives”, the repeated compromise of the children’s privacy by the filming of the children bathing and eliminating bodily waste (that not only plays over and over on Jon and Kate reruns and marathons, but also on YouTube) having cameras installed in their bedrooms, industrial lighting for film installed permanently in the home and the children being pulled all over the State of Pennsylvania and the USA in scripted events devised by Figure 8 Films and TLC, meant to dupe the viewing into believing that the Gosselins were just going about their “daily lives”.
In his return email to me, he stated that he and his organization was aware of the show and was keeping a close watch on its development. I was notified yesterday that “A Minor Consideration” has issued a statement to Jon and Kate, et al.
From “A Minor Consideration” (http://www.minorcon.org/index.html)
Time to Exit, Jon & Kate
August 27, 2008
The future of the “Plus Eight” is the real issue, Jon and Kate, and it’s time for you to listen. Your children are changing right before our eyes, and all of the changes aren’t healthy.
Consider us your Fire Alarm. The “former kid stars” that belong to AMC know this world better than anyone. We were very tolerant when “Jon and Kate + 8” first started, intrigued and sympathetic as we witnessed a loving mad house struggling to cope with an almost unimaginable blessing.
But, you know the old curse, “Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.” Raising children is not theater, and we don’t care how much money is on the table. Little kids need secrets and silences, especially as they enter the world of schooling and making new friends.
Please examine the motives of all the people who give you advice and stand to make a buck off your children…including yourselves…especially you two. Not all change is good. For those of us who know what to look for, Fame has a subtle but corrupting effect on everyone it touches, and it has touched your children…and you.
It’s not too late to limit the damage. Remove the cameras from your house, dismiss the film crew and tell them thanks. Whatever deals you have made can be undone, and we have the lawyers to help you. Disavow any and all contracts.
What started as a documentary has turned into dangerous distortion of childhood, parenting, and what passes for acceptable risk in the age of the Internet. The bulls-eyes you have painted on the foreheads of your children will only grow larger with time.
Parenting is not now nor has it ever been a spectator sport.
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Applause for Mr. Petersen and his agency!
Interestingly, this statement from A Minor Consideration coincides with the Gosselins’ launch of a completely overhauled website full of subtle and not so subtle damage control (www.sixgosselins.com).
The crux of the matter is documented in an answer Kate gave in response to a question posed in their Question and Answer section regarding why their family is not in the children’s lives:
Why don’t we see more of Kate’s or Jon’s family on the show?
There are varied reasons. Some choose not to be on camera, some are really not here on a daily (or weekly) basis for different reasons, and some don’t understand our job and how it relates to our “real” lives…which is still puzzling to us… “Our life is our show and our show is our life,” I always say and it is a very hard balance!
And therein lies the grave danger that these children are in. That statement makes it crystal clear that the Gosselins have no idea WHAT is reality and what it is not.
The lines between what is a TV show and what is normal life have been obliterated in their minds, and who is at the brunt of this obliteration? 8 little pawns – corporate cash cows -who have no say in the matter.
They may not, but we do, and we will continue to work for the protection of these children. While it is clear that they have been emotionally affected by this fiasco called “Reality TV”, with cancellation of the show and therapy they may need, I do believe that all of the children may live a full, balanced and above all NORMAL lives devoid of intrusive cameras and blatant exploitation.
Don’t stop the fight!