Too Much, Too Soon

I do realize that parents want the best for their kids. I certainly did, and do, for my son. However, I wonder if our society hasn't been on a quest for too much, too soon for some time.

There are tv talent shows for children, not young adults, to show off what they're good at. While I've a problem with such shows being on national tv, I don't really have a problem with encouraging our children to try new things, even if they fail, as long as it doesn't put them in harm's way AND as long as it's the kid's idea of what's a good time and having fun.

However, I guess I've suddenly connected some random events over the past year involving elementary age kids performing for large audiences and decided to wonder does our society as a whole expect too much, too soon of them?

The most prominent that pops to mind at the moment is the Chinese girl who sang at the Olympics. She has an incredible voice, and would have been a sensation even if the Chinese government hadn't decided to have a "Vanilla Ice" stand-in lip-sync the song while the young lady sang.

I also reacently received a link of 5 elementary-aged girls singing the Star-Spangled Banner at a university basketball game. You couldn't have asked for a more professional performance from those 5 girls.

And, I guess that's where my difficulty with it sets in. Professional? At 6,7,8 years old? C'mon! They're kids! What does it take of their time for play and imagination and just plain silly fun to polish that number? Is it the wise thing to do? Will we burn out some incredible future talent by pushing them to sing like adult professionals before their bodies, minds, and spirits are able to handle it? Does such an early start have the potential to injure voices that should be involved in playing "Red Rover" and "Duck, Duck, Goose" and "Marco Polo"?

Don't get me wrong. There are indeed some prodigies who choose to nurture a gift from a very early age. They are drawn to sing or play an instrument or act or create a work of art and you almost have to grab them by the hair and drag them away to get them to learn the basics of human interaction. And, if those 5 girls or the girl from China or any of the others are such prodigies, then ok. Do we have to showcase them at such a young age, though?

I still think we've lost some perspective when it comes to our kids and are nudging them to adulthood way too quickly. Why can't we just let children be what they are - child-like? It might be a step toward improving our society over the long haul.