Middle-school Paparazzi

This is not exactly breaking news, but something happened at a shoot I was at yesterday that really got under my skin as a photographer. I was at the Industry nightclub in Beverly Hills, shooting an admittedly forgettable event that was being attended by a small number of the lower-level "Twilight" cast members. Naturally, besides the regular agency photographers like myself, there were a number of autograph-hounds and paparazzi there as well. Well, among the paps on the street were two boys who couldn't have been more than thirteen years old, wielding cameras. I can't tell you how much I think this is a BAD idea on their part. The phenomenon of kid paparazzi is not new here in L.A., and I think it's something that needs to stopped, quickly. Setting up these kids along a career of being a professional parasite is something that really turns my stomach. Where the hell are the parents of these kids? Do they have any idea how much potential danger their children are exposing themselves to? And if they do, what does that say about themselves as parents? Honestly, I really wanted to grab these kids and growl, "Go home and do your f**king homework!". What galled me even more were the adult paps, autograph hounds, and even one of the publicists--the publicists!!--who were laughing along with the kids and encouraging them, as if this were some sort of field trip! I mean, I almost can't blame the paps and the like, because let's face it, many of them are too far gone in terms of abandonment of moral values and human decency to be able to understand that sending kids out into Hollywood's streets at night is not a positive development. The publicists, however, should know better, because they're working on the inside, with the adults...like myself and my colleagues. They should not be encouraging these kids down the path that they're going, at all. Training to be a paparazzi is not something that young children should be doing whatsoever; this is the time when they need to be gearing up towards high school and developing skills that will serve them in the long run in a real job. Also, doesn't this violate child labor laws of some kind? I mean, who can be held responsible for this--the parents? The agencies who're making money off of these kids' work? This is something that needs to end. For the most part, the city has been loathe to go after the paparazzi due to free speech laws. As I see it, though, this is something entirely different. Is it going to take someone calling the police on these mini-paps for something to be done? It just makes me sick.