Is it ever okay to put children on reality TV?

Other. Quite frankly, I don't care what you do with your own kids. I do think that putting them on television will mess them up and makes you a bad parent, but hey, it's none of my business.

What's wrong with putting your kids on TV? Well, these people need to ask themselves: what is motivating their actions? Money? Recognition? Point is, I doubt any person honestly thinks that putting their kid on TV- and on reality TV, of all things- is beneficial to them.

There's a great poem out there that sums up what I mean, but I can't for the life of me remember what's it called. Something about a mother whose child is an extraordinary writer and who "encourages" her to publish her works, when all the kid really wants is to live a normal childhood…

My mom noticed my baby sister could listen to a song and then play it by ear on the old piano we had, so at three she began paying for intensive lessons for my sister, hoping to make her into a child star. I guess that works sometimes, but for my sister, it backfired. She ended up hating to play the piano and for years as an adult, hardly played at all.

Now, she has finally started composing again, and she's amazing, her talent is remarkable, but as a child, it was my mom's dream, not hers, to make her famous. She is content to play for family and friends and occastionally in church. My point is, children are their own separate people, a fact most parents don't seem to understand. They see their children as an extension of themselves, and if they want fame and glory, they assume their children do too. This is not always the case.

I met a brillant father once to a brillant four-yr old. I asked him how his son got to be so unique, spunky, funny, talented and a joy to be around; the father said it was simple "I see him as his own person; I'm his older, wiser friend who is here to keep him from danger, otherwise he's free to do what he wants..." It worked very well for that pair, maybe not all kids would benefit from that type of parenting, but they certainly would benefit from being seen as their own people...

Much love,
Carrot