Child Exploitation

The petition is entitled Stop the exploitation of children where they are used to add emotion and impact to causes and the explanatory notes say

"To prevent the unfair and immoral use of children to make emotive and provocative statements in the furtherance of a cause or campaign which should stand or fall on the facts and evidence alone."

This is rather cryptic; I don't really know what it might refer to. I would guess it's some complaint similar to those I've already blogged about in posts like Charitable TV Ads and Psychological Government Campaigns. I can't be sure, though, and nor will the PM or whoever has to answer this petition on his behalf, presumably.

And I'll repeat what I said in those blog posts: people need shocking about some things. And child actors are far more likely to be damaged, in my opinion, by the publicity and fame and indeed fictional things they act in than by a shock campaign about drunk-driving, or whatever it is this petitioner's wittering about.