What Does AB1660 Mean for Your Child Actor?

AB1660 for Your Child Actor –

If you live in California and have a child actor (or if you are a teen actor), you have probably heard about AB1660. You may wonder exactly what AB1660 is and what it means for your child actor.

AB1660 (Assembly Bill 1660) has been in the news and discussed online in forums and on various entertainment industry sites and blogs.  I previously had a reference to AB1660 here on my blog and sent email about it to those subscribed to my email list to try to help gain support for this bill.

With all the news related to the inappropriate treatment of minors in our society in general, it is not surprising that it has also been a major concern in the entertainment industry. Minors pursuing careers in the entertainment industry are often put into situations where they may not be totally safe.

I can tell you there were times when I felt strange allowing someone I barely knew to take my young child alone into a room with no windows.  But since everyone else was doing it, it was easy to assume it was okay. And fortunately for us it was okay since nothing bad happened to her. But should I have been more cautious?

Learning about what has happened to other young people in the entertainment industry as well as in other activities such as sports, and even in churches, is enough to make any parent feel sick.

Minors in the entertainment industry are often taken out of the sight of parents and guardians and behind closed doors with adults for a variety of reasons: photography, rehearsing, acting classes, auditions, interviews, coaching, and much more. It is important that parents and kids be able to trust the adults working with them, but it is not always the case that the adults are deserving of our trust.

It is for this reason that some parents began working to bring about legislation to help protect our child actors.  This legislation was initiated by Anne Henry and Paula Dorn (Bizparentz).

They have been working hard over the last number of years to do everything they can to help ensure that children here in California who are working or attempting to work in the entertainment industry are kept safe.

So exactly “What Does AB1660 Mean for Your Child Actor?”

AB1660 is a Bill that was just signed on September 26, 2012 to help protect minors in the entertainment industry from people who may pose a threat to their safety.

This bill, also referred to as the  “Child Performer’s Protection Act” was authored by Assemblywoman Nora Campos. It was approved by Governor Jerry Brown, and will become law effective January 1, 2013.

So what does AB1660 actually mean for young actors and for businesses?

You can read all the details of the bill here: AB1660

AB1660 attempts to prevent known sex offenders from having access to minors in the entertainment industry here in California.

The law requires that certain businesses with employees who work directly with children apply for and pay for permits. It also requires these businesses to run background checks on their employees and have them fingerprinted.

AB1660 will bring about added expense and effort on the part of the businesses. It does seem  unfortunate for those who are trustworthy, but it is important to do what we can to protect our children.

It is hard to know exactly where to draw the line in terms of who should or should not be fingerprinted and to exactly what businesses this bill will apply. There are so many potential situations for danger, and certainly the law won’t apply to every situation where a child could be alone with an adult, but it will definitely do a huge amount to help.

It will probably take some time for businesses to understand whether AB1660 applies to them and to understand exactly what they must do to comply with these new regulations.

Even with this legislation in place, it is still up to us, the parents and guardians, to be quite vigilant in supervising the activities of our children.

It is also up to us to communicate regularly with our children and to make sure our children understand that they must immediately report to us any inappropriate behavior on the part of an adult regardless of what that adult tells them.

And it is also up to us to intervene in any case where something does not feel quite right.

So how do you intervene without coming across as a bad stage parent?  There can be a fine line between concerned parent and crazy stage parent…

This new legislation should help do some of the policing for us, but it is still ultimately up to us to do what we think we need to do in order to keep our children safe.

To your success,

Debbie Sikkema

Related articles

• California Governor Signs Law To Protect Child Actors (deadline.com)