Data Management Plan: Child participants in the creative industries

The risk of harm for children who participate in the media has been the subject of long-standing public concern. Numerous newspaper articles, documentaries and books have warned about the plight of child performers who grow up to become dysfunctional adults, damaged by their childhood experiences. Yet despite the high profile of these debates, there has been a surprising lack of academic investigation about the role of child participants in the creative industries or the impact on their wellbeing, and almost no empirical research exploring their perspective.

This pilot study proposes to investigate the wellbeing of children who take part in creative work – focussing first on TV and film, before potentially seeking external funding to broaden the scope of the project to include other creative sectors. The research will explore the views and experiences of children and their families, as well as the producers, tutors, chaperones and psychologists who work with them. Through a collaboration with the TV Human Rights Forum – whose member organisations include the BBC, ITV, C4, Sky and NBC Universal – the project aims to have an impact on policy and working practices, considering how they could be reimagined for the digital era. The overall question this research seeks to answer is: to what extent do the creative industries offer a safe and appropriate environment for child participants?