In the name of art or public service is it ever OK to force a kid to cry?

A recent Australian anti-smoking PSA featuring a small boy left alone for a brief moment in a crowded train station is raising awareness -- but not for the reason you'd think.

The controversial ad has many questioning the ethics of emotionally manipulating child actors in the name of art. "This goes all the way back to Jackie Cooper in Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid' in 1921 when he was told his dog died so he'd cry," says Paul Peterson, who from the age of 12 to 20 played Jeff Stone on "The Donna Reed Show." That's why he formed the child star advocacy group, A Minor Consideration.  

The premise of the PSA is more important than any Charlie Chaplin flick. The spot serves as a warning to parents who smoke. "If this is how your child feels if you leave them for a minute, imagine if they lost you for life?" says the voice over after the boy is reunited with his mom.  

Watching the little boy break down when he realizes his mum has walked off does create a powerful message. Unfortunately the question remains: who could make a child cry in the first place?
 
Fiona Sharkie, the executive director of the Australian anti-smoking organization that produced the ad, defends the methods used to make the 4-year-old actor shed tears. "Both Alex [the boy] and his mother were fully briefed and rehearsed the whole commercial before we made it" she told NBC's "Today." But she goes on to admit that the tears were real -- because the boy's mother really did walk off, leaving the boy alone in a real train station.  But, said Sharkie, "Within seconds of those tears being shed, he was in his mother's arms and giggling." 

Since the ad aired in New York, Shakie is facing a firestorm of criticism. Extremely passionate about the issue, Paul Peterson believes the practice of frightening children to "get the shot" is a tragedy. "Why do film makers get anything they want to, quote, 'make a point'?"

Peterson is unmoved that the little boy was put in a frightening situation for an anti-smoking ad. "I've been told that the filming of a rape scene in 'Hounddog' with Dakota Fanning who was 12 at the time was going to raise awareness of rape." Ultimately, says Peterson, child actors put in painful situations will be damaged down the road. "The images will never go away. They will haunt the child forever."  

Photographer Jill Greenberg faced the same when her exhibit "End Times" was displayed in Los Angeles. 25 portraits of crying toddlers -- one of them Greenburg's own daughter -- caused an outrage. Critics called Greenburg a "sick woman" and a child abuser. Greenburg's method of getting kids to turn on the water works? She gave them lollipops and then took them away. Literally taking candy from babies.

What baffles Peterson is why these artists don't use children who can cry on cue. "There are  true young professionals who can deliver a performance. But if you believe the tears are real, you're witnessing child abuse." 

Is it ever OK to force a kid to cry?

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