Ok, here's my issue with fairly young and really young kids on shows like America's Got Talent, or more specifically, sending fairly young and really young kids through to the next level:
9 times out of 10, you are setting them up for "failure."
Now, before everybody goes nuts and rips my heart out (because I know there are plenty of people who are going to disagree with me), let me clarify.
There are millions of talented kids out there. There are tons of kids who can sing, play instruments, dance, do gymnastics, etc. There are millions of kids who are going to cultivate talents at a young age, be very good at what they do at a young age and only get better as they get older. I hope that my daughters develop interests early on that morph into incredible talent and more importantly, great loves.
Unfortunately, when it comes to a show like AGT (where young kids are encouraged to audition), the numbers don't work in these young kids' favors. The young eleven-year-old girl who sang on tonight's episode was a good singer. She hit her notes properly, she was adorable, she has a perfectly enjoyable voice to listen to. Here's the problem: the open auditions aren't over yet and she's one of a number of young kid singers who have gotten through. And while her voice is good, she hits her notes, she's perfectly adorable--she is in NO WAY as good as a great number of other acts that have come through. She is not going to win this season. She's good, but she's not one in a million; she's one among a million.
Now, she's been sent to Las Vegas, where chances are, she's going to get sent home before the live shows. And she's going to be heartbroken. Her parents are going to shell out the money, the time, the effort, etc, to make a trip to Las Vegas where she may (or may not) get sent right back home. And if she does make it to New York, to the live shows, again, at some point she's going to get sent home.
****I will say this now--if she would come back and win this whole thing, you all can come back and roast me in a pit.****
I have watched this show for many seasons now and I have watched a lot of kids get sent home and I have watched their tears and ached at their dejection at being rejected. To me, it's cruel.
I know that in any journey into success, one has to suffer failure after failure, rejection after rejection, before one makes it to the top. I understand that. It's part of life. But I think there is a venue for those kind of challenges for children that young, and I don't think one of those venues should be national TV, especially when these kids are competing against adults. There is nothing wrong with chasing dreams, and as parents, it is our job to encourage our children to chase their dreams. It is also our job, in my opinion, to shelter them--up to a point.
This season, there have been three dancing couples that have gone through--ages 5-13. They're talented dancers and they're adorable. However, when they dance against the adult dancers that have also gone through, they are not going to make the cut. The same goes for the young singers. It comes down to a matter of experience.
So, if either of my daughters pursues singing (or dancing, or gymnastics, or sports) I will encourage them in their pursuits. If at five, or seven, or nine years old I think and they think that they are more talented in their skill than others their age, then I will allow them to compete in age-appropriate competitions. I will seek out the proper tutelage and education for them and allow their talents to develop in a natural way.
Will I let them audition at America's Got Talent at five years or even ten or eleven years of age? No, probably not.
There are easier hurdles to jump and there are easier rejections to handle. I don't think five year olds or even ten or eleven year olds are able to properly handle the pressure of being rejected by stars like Howard Stern and Howie Mandel on national television. Older teens and adults, yes, absolutely. They've learned that the world isn't fair, that sometimes people are going to tell you no and if you really believe in yourself, you'll continue to work. But the type of rejection that these young kids can face on a show like AGT can be crushing.
I just don't agree with it.
Now, let the tongue-lashings begin.
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