On April 20, the final of the show “Voice. Children”, in which talented guys from all over the country, under the guidance of venerable professionals of vocal skills, compete for the title of the best performer. The day before, a round table was held on the air of the VM network broadcast, within which experts discussed all aspects of children's show business and found out whether participation in television programs is the exploitation of children or is it a real chance to build their stellar future.
The laws of show business, it's not a secret for anyone, sometimes turn out to be too harsh even for its experienced leaders. Television ratings are based on tears and scandals, views on the Internet are gained through sensations and non-standard approaches, and for the sake of sports success, you have to give up your personal life altogether. On the other hand, the sooner you get into this area, the sooner you decide on the vector of development, the more chances for success, and therefore for universal recognition, high fees and the realization of ambitions. But whose ambitions are actually carried out by show children and for whom do they earn?
The line between creativity and business
In the modern world, the parents of three-year-old children, seeing the zeal with which their children perform Dima Bilan's songs in front of the mirror or dance to Beyoncé, immediately drag them by snare to music schools and choreographic studios. There, under the vigilant supervision of coaches, the kids have to spend five hours six days a week. And God forbid, at the reporting concert, you will stand in the second row.
“I would clearly distinguish between show business and children's creativity,” says Vadim Arustamov, head of the Interregional Public Organization “We are the Children of Russia”. - If it is ballroom dancing, folk art, sports - in a word, something that does not involve children in adult life, then it has a right to exist. But when seven-year-old children in front of millions of TV viewers perform songs from the category “You loved me, we were together” - this is unacceptable. When childhood is taken away, and fashion and trend are substituted for it, a catastrophe occurs.
However, viewers, project authors and advertisers certainly do not set the goal of developing the creative abilities of the participants. What is selling well will be broadcast. How, in this case, to find a balance and not spoil the still fragile child's psyche?
- If initially the parents set the child up for the fact that this is just a game, that this is an opportunity for growth, movement towards something, and no one will condemn him for losing, then everything will be all right, - the psychologist, writer, specialist in education problems thinks. and development of children Galina Momot. - When it comes to professionalism - the same sport or ballet - there is no longer a show approach. There is targeted training, the development of certain skills. The element of competition is controversial.
Victory or participation?
What creates the intensity of passions, makes viewers sit at the screens for hours and wait for the outcome? Competition. The same disturbing and at the same time brutal detail of the show, when the fate of the participants is determined. This is where all the hidden traps are buried.
“Each child has his own talents and inclinations,” explains sociologist, sports psychologist Alexander Zhuravlev. - And with early development, you need to be careful. If your son or daughter loves to dance at the age of three, and you bring them to figure skating, do not think that in a couple of months the situation will not change. Discomfort, falls, pain will appear, the same notorious competition will arise. But this is not for everyone. And not everyone can cultivate this quality. Moreover, not in every participant in the television project. And no one knows how the child will react to defeat, whether he will accept it with dignity.
Forcibly pulling a child to conquer Olympus on federal television is indeed fraught with consequences. As well as any public speech can affect the fragile psyche in the most unexpected way.
“Before a big performance, a child needs to be tested,” says Inna Ginkevich, director of the State Budgetary Institution of the School of Olympic Reserve 25 of Moskomsport, chief choreographer and advisor to the head of Moskomsport, Honored Artist of Russia. - You should take part in small local competitions so that the child gets used to the audience and begins to treat it correctly.
At the same time, it will make it clear whether the path was chosen.
A glass of water and a card bill
An open question for discussion is what drives parents who dream of raising future heroes of art or sports from their children. Some call the reason for the realization of their own unfulfilled dreams and ambitions. Others sincerely believe that in this way they pave the way for future generations to a secure future. And a considerable part without a twinge of conscience after each successful performance counts the earned fee.
“If you don’t want to deprive a child of childhood, you don’t need to make a printing press out of him,” Arustamov urges. - Money is a coming business. When a child meets the needs of the parents, it is wrong. If he goes into sports or art for the sake of sports or art itself, his incentive is not material, but purely human. He will strive for growth, for development. And when parents paint a child with cosmetics and take him to the podium, and he himself says that he wants to become a doctor or a firefighter, then a conflict occurs.
At the same time, it still cannot do without a material component. Experts disagree widely on how early earning money will affect a child's development. After all, if successful teenagers are shown on TV or on the Internet, earning millions and still not even graduating from school, how then to explain the need for education and form the right values?
“In fact, it's okay that a child earns money, no,” insists Evgeny Orlov, a music producer, author of a unique methodology for the development of young talents. - But he will learn to dispose of them. At the same time, early earnings can be called positive only in those cases when its process does not deprive the child of childhood and does not go to the detriment of his general development.
But the harsh conditions of existence in the information society, where almost all information exists in an open society without a label, good or bad, parents do not always succeed in directing the development of children in the right direction.
“We stand up for the early entry of children into sports, into creativity, but not at the business level,” urges Ginkevich. - The earlier a child gets involved in professionalism, the less chances he has to get into a “bad” society or become addicted to false values.
Where is the boy?
Thus, it turns out that the fate of the child is entirely in the hands of adults. Adults choose, adults judge, adults force and decide what's best. In this case, the child is asked about his desires and needs in the last place: little else, what should he know!
“The child is on the side,” Momot comments. - And it doesn't matter how old he is - as a rule, he is somewhere near the general process. A good parent must understand what he wants for the child, not from him.
The task of the older generation is to show wisdom and give a choice, to let them decide for themselves, while delicately explaining the difference between good and bad.
- You need to come to the teacher and say: try it, - Vadim Arustamov thinks. - If the child likes it, if he has a competitive spirit, he will achieve something. There should not be a goal to become a world champion, the main task at first is to keep the child busy, to make him interested.
But here psychologists are already protesting. From the point of view of physiology and mental development, everything should be gradual and appropriate for a certain age.
“Early development is often confused with early learning,” Momot explains. - All that concerns coming to the early sections is education that puts pressure on the child, depriving him of the "sandbox", where he could decide what exactly to do. What are we doing early learning of any kind? We develop the left hemisphere. As a result, we see very intelligent and ambitious people whose emotional intelligence is at zero. So experiments with professional sports at the age of three will not lead to good.
Golden mean
According to Inna Ginkevich, the approach to child development should be creative. Working out the scheme, memorizing notes or banal coaching will lead to the fact that a child will grow into an excellent executive machine, but certainly not a future star with his own unique and creative approach.
“We need an educational system, a balance between performances and creativity,” says the PR director of the theater studio “Fidgets” Yulia Bikbulatova. - Singing or dancing is not enough. The child needs to put a complex speech technique, and acting skills, and solfeggio, and choreography. And concert activity, competition is the result.
What if you still want to get into the screen? Is participation really more important than victory?
“Television is a cynical thing,” says Orlov. - First of all, it is necessary to instill good taste in children, to rely on goodies from whom you can learn something. In an extreme case, when circumstances and environment under pressure impose some false values on the child, certain imperatives will have to be introduced. There are things that should be perceived according to the principle "if mom and dad said so, then it is."
Overemphasis on the uniqueness of the child also negatively affects the child. After all, the ability to play is also an important quality.
- Every parent thinks that his child is the most golden, - adds Bikbulatova. - And he hears it all. Star fever always comes from the family. And the correct upbringing is the responsibility, first of all, of the parents.
