Giving Back and Its Effects on Child Development
The importance of healthy earnership for child actors
What is healthy earnership? Children In Film defines it as the ability for a child to earn money in a way that does not have a harmful effect on his or her mental and emotional development. A young person with healthy earnership skills develops a positive relationship with money, recognizes the importance of giving back to the community and places value in people and experiences before material things. Additionally, healthy earnership skills help a young person adapt as fame and wealth come over time and readapt if that fame and wealth eventually go away.
In many ways, becoming a successful child actor is a lot like winning the lottery. It can happen overnight and create instant exposure to more money and privileges than the individual has ever experienced before. Many people view this as a blessing and hope to achieve this one day but do not prepare for the potentially damaging effects that fame and fortune can have on an individual and a family.
Did you know that there have been studies of lottery winners indicating that many of these winners, at some point or another, will lose money and relationships? If you are unprepared for the changes that come with great wealth and fame, and if you don't prepare ahead of time, the results can be detrimental. Paul Petersen, founder of A Minor Consideration says, "most of the time the big changes are not in you. It's the people around you that will change."
When Shirley Temple Black was asked how she survived the pressures of fame and wealth at such a young age, Shirley answered "Because of my mother. She believed if a child is working in entertainment, that a parent should always be with them to step in front of the child and say, 'she can't do that' or 'she can't accept that great gift from you.' If there isn't someone to do that, the (child actor) gets spoiled rotten."
As part of its mission Children In Film aims to provide parents with resources they can use to combat the problems that may be associated with young children earning money. We also provide healthy earnership and giving back opportunities as studies show that children who learn to give back to the community at an early age have better self-confidence, are more equipped to combat depression and develop improved social and relationship skills. Furthermore, children who begin to earn an income are less likely to become disconnected with the realities of the community if they participate in volunteer work.
In our article "Giving Back and its Effects on Child Development," CIF sat down with family psychologist, Dr. Jenn Ramlo, to discuss issues specifically related to entertainment families.
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