In today's world, everyone uses social media from young age to old age. It has become a regular routine for us and plays an important role in our lives. I have seen countless children becoming influencers and they have gained so much popularity at an early age. Most of them have have millions of followers on their social media.
Well, do kids handle those social media accounts? Obviously not, you can tell by looking at the content if it was made by child or it was a set up by their parents. I am very sure about that parents are the ones who create the accounts for them and gives direction in every content. Some people think it's a good thing and there's nothing wrong it, but I personally do not support kids becoming influencers at a young age.
I have reached my adulthood and I'm still young. Right now I still feel there's lots of things I need to learn and explore the world. So how can a child understand what is good for them so earlier? Like if they want to be in social media now but when they grow up they might regret their past decisions. And they won't be able to erase it ever again.
Also, if there is no one to guide the child and their parents are the one who encouraged them, it could bring disasters in a child's life. So, who would those children rely on? I believe during childhood children should only spend their time on learning and playing. They should be having fun without any worries. Their privacy must be protected and they should not be watched by millions of strangers.
A child needs to discover the world of internet and understand it properly in order to work in that sector. Internet is a good place but it's scary as well. Children are too young to understand what are the consequences of sharing their lives online. So, their parents must be the one to make them understand what's wrong for them.
The pictures posted online will stay on the internet forever and what if they don't want to be a public figure in the future. Also, the people of internet will never let it go. Online bullying is very common, a child could go through a harsh time because of it. As at young age they're very emotional and soft hearted, it might leave an effect on their life forever and they might not be able to recover from it.
I have seen many parents when their kids are throwing tantrums, they would record the situation and post it online. Some audience may take it positively but other people does start negativity and make it an issue. They call the kid names and judges them for their actions or behaviour. But the audience will never know the whole story behind it. Many parents abuse their children, for an example the childhood of Michael Jackson was very painful, even though he forgave his father. And after growing up he always had the thought of creating a peaceful childhood for other kids and it was because of his childhood trauma. Internet is not always a safe place, and adults need to be protective about it. Most of the parents take advantage of their kids and make money out of their fame.
After the child becomes popular they start to get offers from brands and at that time parents might not care about their child's feelings instead they wanna gain more money and fame. This could put a child under pressure for being perfect and doing work all of the time. So these so called parents might focus more on creating content. In conclusion, the child is not going to have a normal childhood.
If the child is truly potential and wants to make some content to showcase his talent then parents should help them as long their child enjoys it. But if a child's parents pressurize them to work for content to gain fame and money then it's a big "No", I think that's called child labour.
Also, being an influencer can affect a child's mental health they might constantly think about getting more likes, views and feel anxious when they get less than their expectations. Moreover, criticism from followers can be stressful even for adults. They might start to to feel insecure about their looks at a young age and try to look perfect and entertain others.
In my opinion, child influencers should be able to enjoy creating content and not take it as a job. Anyway, the chances of risks higher than the benefits. In the end, I want to say that children should enjoy their childhood also, I believe their safety and privacy should be the first priority before everything else.
The images are created with Gemini
