STOP pushing your child to participate in reality competitions

Pushing children to participate in reality shows can cause psychological damage, says our psychologist.

By: Naz Haider | | Updated: November 16, 2016 9:50 am

If I have learnt anything about mothers after joining the tribe of mothers myself is that sometimes mothers can get very competitive and follow the herd blindly. And this behaviour usually peaks when it concerns their children. Don’t get me wrong. I love the community of mothers as we all like to help each other with tips and tricks, but when it comes to kids, we have to prove that our child is twice as better than any other kid. While we all want our children to flourish and achieve things, how far should we push our children to outdo other kids? Each child has their own skills and talents, and expecting every child to be a prodigy is wrong on so many levels. Whether you aspire for the child to perform during local pooja celebrations or for her to compete in one of the televised talent hunts, you may be causing a lot of psychological and probably physical damage to your child.

Dr Shuchi Dalvi, child psychologist, warns parents against pushing their kids to perform. “Boogie Woogie in the 90’s put this idea in everybody’s mind that they can be famous on TV. This penchant for becoming a mini-celebrity is what pushes a lot of parents to send their kids to all these talent hunts and reality shows,” she says. And how true is that, if you have seen a child cry at being eliminated or when the judges dole out a harsh comment, it is heartbreaking. Watch any audition of a reality show and a lot of children who come there will say that it the show is important for them because it is their parents’ dreams. “Trying to live your dreams through your children puts undue pressure on them and can stunt the growth of their natural creativity,” says Dr Dalvi.

This is not to say that every child auditioning for a reality show is forced to do that, some kids are actually very talented and should be on public shows. What is wrong is when you force your child and make it a huge deal, so much so that the child gets really disheartened nd depressed on not achieving it.

Read this in HINDI

Image: Shutterstock

Published : November 9, 2016 6:29 pm | Updated:November 16, 2016 9:50 am

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