DANGER: KIDS AT WORK

Danger: Kids at Work is a passionate and alarming documentary, exposing the exploitation and prevalence of child labor in the United States. This is the story of the children of immigrants working in garment industry sweatshops instead of going to school, and the children of migrants, laboring in pesticide-laden fields, trapped in a cycle of poverty.

But the film goes beyond the familiar images of child labor. Danger: Kids at Work exposes the working conditions of suburban teenagers working in fast food restaurants during and after school hours, while labor laws designed to protect their safety are being ignored. And strikingly, the documentary reveals the tragedy of farm children expected to help in family farms, working around unregulated equipment and large machinery, and maimed and killed at alarming rates.

This documentary was broadcast on Lifetime Television as part of their special Your Family Matters. It was shown in Congress as part of the campaign to preserve child labor laws.

1991 National Primetime Lifetime Television BroadcastSpecial Policy Screening at the U.S. Congress

 

Credits

  • Senior Producer: Lyn Goldfarb
  • Writers: Pat Mitchell and Jacoba Atlas
  • Director of Photography: Ellen Kuras
  • Editor: Kate Amend
  • Composer: Susan Justin
  • Host: Amy Irving
  • Executive Producers: Pat Mitchell and Jacoba Atlas

Produced by Vu Productions

 

 

Selected Reviews

“This is not feel-good television. It is heart-felt. It is informed with the reasoned outrage of old-fashioned documentaries.”

– New York Post, 1991

“But Danger succeeds in what it sets out to do: shake us up, make us realize the extent to which child-labor laws are being flouted….At its best, Danger: Kids at Work is effective muckraking.”

– Entertainment Weekly, 1991

“Amy Irving hosts the chilling documentary about wee kiddies and teenagers in the workplace, and it covers lots of territory…its not a pretty picture…Politicians (and judges) should take note—and should watch this seventh ‘Your Family Matters’ spec.”

– Daily Variety, 1991

“If you believe child labor laws mean your child or millions of others won’t be exploited in the workplace, don’t miss Danger: Kids at Work…The eye-opening hour, which concludes with a what-to-do-about-it list, is hosted by Amy Irving.”

– Los Angeles Times, 1991

Danger: Kids at Work 1Danger: Kids at Work 2Danger: Kids at Work 3Danger: Kids at Work 4Danger: Kids at Work 5