My friends and I were discussing the other day about the increasing prevalence and popularity of children in media and entertainment, especially TV shows. A practice which started with talent competitions has now become a part of everyday entertainment. These days there are a number of dance and music talent competitions especially for children. Similarly, children are becoming the central characters in a number of TV entertainment shows. These competitions and even the shows give children an opportunity to explore their talent, but as a result of this they aren’t able to enjoy and experience their life as a child.
Although children have always been a part of the mainstream cinema, but the practice has now increased and is becoming a commercial aspect. Now it is no longer a matter of talent, these children are increasingly becoming the bread earners for themselves and their families. In many cases the parents start depending on the child’s income for themselves, rather it being the other way round. Talking about this it actually struck to us, that isn’t this another form of child labor. Child labor has been defined as regular and sustained labor by children under a certain age, and in India this age is at 14 years.
We often discuss the evils of child labor. How the poor children are exploited when they make crackers, work in places which are unhygienic and even risky for their lives at times. But all the time our sole focus is on the poor child, and as such child labor has always been labeled with them only. But isn’t extensive work of children in media, also a form of child labor? Though we may say that these children are paid handsome amounts in most cases, which isn’t exploitation, it’s just a career choice. But let’s take a minute and think about the life of these children. After entering the world of entertainment most of these students don’t go to proper schools and they are taught at home by private tutors. Though some may argue that they are getting educated, but is this what we call education? Education is about overall development of the child and not just studying from a book, and that’s what these children are deprived of.
Another bane of this practice is that due to excessive exposure and many a times due to the roles they play, these children know and talk about stuff which is much mature for their age, and in most cases it only has a negative effect!!
Shouldn’t these children be given the opportunity to get educated and then decide on the career path which they are interested in?
