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Just swiched Channels, and there is a documentary on the Tellybox about Baby Models. Not 'child beauty pageant' type modelling, just cute sprogs for Mother and Baby type magazines.

And what was I confronted with?

A mother waxing lyrical about how she can now live out her dream through the medium of her nipper.

And she seems more than a little touched as the Victorians might have said. Now I get and agree that any Parent worth their salt naturally wants the best for their offspring. It's arguably every Parents duty to strive to give their child more than they had, at least in terms of education and future prospects. This can include good schools, lots of extra curricular activites and so on. This is good and healthy.

But when you use your kid to fulfil your own goals, I reckon you've gone pretty far wrong. I mean, what's going to happen when they hit the Teenage years? I'd wager that a fair proportion will rail against the heavy handed parental control, and go to the extrems of teenaged rebellion. Or even worse, they'll never develop as an individual, and simply allow their lives to be forever dominated by Parental wishes and ambitions, rather than exploring their own. Both result in extremely maladjusted adults!

So where would you draw the line? Obviously, some kids are naturally going to gravitate towards the interests the parents have, especially if it's something creative like music, drama or even dance. All well and good here. But when it comes to careers based on superficial natures, like modelling (I want her to be pretty. Pretty is everything) I cannot help but always see the manipulating hand of parents. Especially in the American Beauty Pageants, which I find frankly sickening. I get that there is serious money up for grabs should the kid place well, but at that point, one could accuse the parents of literally pimping out their child...

What do you reckon Dakka?

I encourage my son to be musical, and to that end have bought him a guitar, a keyboard and small-scale drumkit (as these are all instruments I could teach him) in the past. But if he wants to sell them to buy Citadel Miniatures, I won't complain. Unless he gets Tau.

I have heard parents say everything from "Do whatever it takes, basically pimp yourself out if need be", to " You can literally fly if you want to".

Most of this stuff is "reinforced" during childhood, and the majority of it makes little difference in who that child actually is.

I take offense to a lot of things parents put their kids through, but a line has to be set by that parent, according to their child's needs; which I very well may not be aware of. There are obvious lines that we can all recognize, and there are obscure lines that only the Parents would really understand, or at second best, a highly trained professional could do so as well.

Some parents suck, and probably suck at a whole lot more than parenting, and most parents are absolutely awesome; and I say this sincerely. Most people, can understand what is necessary in their lives, and how to balance a child's needs within that framework; which ultimately becomes framework for the children, there is no escape .

Take it easy when judging parents, but the people that put their kids on these shows (balloon boy's parents very included) are simply overzealous, or completely hellbent on ruining their child's lives for the benefit of their success.

Where are they now... where are they now...

Wrexasaur wrote:
Where are they now... where are they now...

This is where he is right now.



See?