Use of children in TV adverts

[Welshman]

We are often presented with TV adverts promoting the needs of children with cancer, or who have been abused, etc, etc. Usually, these employ children looking directly at the camera with their appealing faces, with the plea we send a donation immediately.

And it is good that these needs are being brought to our attention, uncomfortable as that may be. And I really hope people do donate to the charity concerned.

And there's usually a disclaimer, along the lines of "none of these children were harmed in the making of this advertisement" or "all children depicted are actors"

But I do wonder about the affect this has on the children concerned. How do you tell a child of 8 or 9 to imagine she has been abused and to act accordingly? How does she cope the following day with friends telling her they saw her on the TV the previous night in the role of some poor child to whom dreadful things have happened?

Am I alone in my misgivings about this whole thing?

 

[Bungle73]

We are often presented with TV adverts promoting the needs of children with cancer, or who have been abused, etc, etc. Usually, these employ children looking directly at the camera with their appealing faces, with the plea we send a donation immediately.

And it is good that these needs are being brought to our attention, uncomfortable as that may be. And I really hope people do donate to the charity concerned.

And there's usually a disclaimer, along the lines of "none of these children were harmed in the making of this advertisement" or "all children depicted are actors"

But I do wonder about the affect this has on the children concerned. How do you tell a child of 8 or 9 to imagine she has been abused and to act accordingly? How does she cope the following day with friends telling her they saw her on the TV the previous night in the role of some poor child to whom dreadful things have happened?

Am I alone in my misgivings about this whole thing?

They're actors, it's not like they find a bunch of random kids and stick them in an advert. It's no different from any other acting job where they have to portray distressing circumstances.

 

[Welshman]

They're actors, it's not like they find a bunch of random kids and stick them in an advert. It's no different from any other acting job where they have to portray distressing circumstances.

Yes, of course I appreciate they're actors.
And they're good actors - good enough to make you want to donate to the charity.
But actors only become good actors by getting a feel for the part before playing it.
And playing such harrowing situations so effectively as to move you emotionally to want to part with your money most also have an emotional effect on them too.
I just wondered how a child of 8 or 9 prepared for it and dealt with it.

 

[Geezertronic]

Prepare for it? Probably the director asks them to look sad into the camera.

It's probably more of a big deal for children who have to prepare to act in roles where their character is bullied or even worse their character is the victim of abuse