Children of Showbiz

Today’s discussion got me thinking about the children of showbiz and what kind of adults they grow into.

Is that a concept in other countries? In the US, we have three dedicated channels for children — Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. All networks have dedicated programming for children and use child actors frequently. Child actors are also used in programming not geared towards children.

Some famous ones now are Miley Cyrus and Dakota Fanning. There are even more that never achieve the same level of fame as they did as a child. I am wondering if Nick from Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney had a similar upbringing? Was he over pampered? Did he not have a voice? Were all his needs as a child railroaded by his parents?

According to licensed social worker Wanda Horrell, “young actors must constantly cope with rejection, jealousy, self-scrutiny, obsessive thoughts, and the nonstop need to be perfect. These children are at high risk of becoming emotionally unstable and of becoming drug, alcohol, or sex abusers.” I wonder how much this will play into the story as whole.

In my opinion, parents that push their children into showbiz are terrible. I would never put my child in this, even if they wanted it.