Are TV game shows "forcing" children to grow up prematurely?

Young contestants participating in reality TV shows for children face a lot of pressure and are forced to mature faster than their age.

This summer, many children's television shows "exploded" on domestic television such as "Do Re Mi", "The Voice Kids", "Dancing with the Stars Kids", "Youth Dance", "Vietnam's Got Talent"...

As adult reality TV shows are becoming increasingly saturated, children’s versions of shows seem to be trending, and are a “fertile ground” to attract the attention of both adults and children. However, that also creates limitations for children, as they are the ones directly participating in these competitions.

Children are as "sexy" as adults

With the goal of exploiting, selecting and developing young talents, children's version programs always pose many diverse challenges for children. Adults participating in the role of judges and coaches are the ones who monitor and pay attention to the most outstanding talents to train them professionally. But that professional demand sometimes unintentionally turns them into versions of entertainment "stars" or makes them grow up before their age.

Many child contestants participating in TV game shows have "sexy" gestures and movements.

“Do Re Mi”, a singing program for children that has existed for quite a long time on VTV, has also not been able to avoid criticism for choosing costumes, styling, and makeup for children who are too old, and acting according to the arrangements of adults, losing their innocence. Singer Thai Thuy Linh herself, who participated as a judge on “Do Re Mi” 2012, had to exclaim: “The contestants of Sao Mai Diem Hen in the past did not have as much trouble as the contestants of Do Re Mi now”!

Similar scenarios are happening with the current children's version of the program. Most recently, the first season of "Dancing with the Stars Kids" could not avoid complaints because of "sexualizing" the contestants. Softness and flexibility are the characteristics of dances such as Dancesport, Belly Dance... But the thing to say is that the children are added with gestures, twisting movements, even somewhat provocative, "sexy" like adults.

“The Voice Kids” season 2 has also been criticized for allowing children to perform in the same style as singers, the versions of entertainment “stars”. For example, in the first episode of the Confrontation round, the performance of three female contestants from Ho Hoai Anh and Luu Huong Giang’s team caused controversy because they performed in a rather sexy style, going beyond the scope of a competition for children. And perhaps, if not in the competition, looking at such a performance, viewers would not think that these were three girls aged 13-15.

"Adult-like" performances by three female contestants in the "The Voice Kids" season 2 Confrontation round

Children sing adult music

The problem is not only in the performance but also in choosing the right songs and background music for the children's performance. Choosing foreign songs is no longer an old story in children's competitions. Learning from the first season, in fact, in the second season of "The Voice Kids", the coaches have made adjustments to balance the number of Vietnamese and foreign songs. Meanwhile, the first season of "Dancing with the Stars Kids" is abusing a lot of adult background music for children to perform.

However, for foreign songs, there are cases where they still choose to sing songs with adult themes, such as love between men and women, or feminism. Although the main purpose is to "show off" their voices, that choice has made them "age" a lot. The children themselves probably do not care about what they are singing, but how they need to show their talent. But that unintentionally makes them not have a direction for themselves in "what to listen to, what to watch".

Three contestants from Lam Truong's team face the challenge of singing island music.

Even for Vietnamese songs, at a young age, having to sing songs about islands, or "sad" songs, requiring depth is a challenge and a lot of pressure for them. I remember, in the performance about islands by three girls from Lam Truong's team in the "Voice Kids" Confrontation round, Ho Hoai Anh said: "At your innocent age, having to sing songs about these topics is too much for you. At your age, you probably cannot understand the meaning of those songs. There are people who, even at the end of their lives, may not understand it all..." (!)

You can satisfy the judges and coaches with good technique and stable voice, but why do you keep forcing them to sing things they don't understand?

Children's tears are exploited!

In addition to performance issues, young contestants in competitions also face the pressure of winning or losing. Not simply a playground where children can interact and meet each other, most of the current children's competitions require children to learn how to face competition. Singer Lam Truong once expressed that in competitions, sometimes the stress of adults also creates pressure for children and makes them stressed.

Children's tears become a "trick" of the producer

Therefore, with their immaturity in age and life experience, it is not difficult to explain why they shed tears so easily. It is not only the sadness of failure and pressure, but also the sincere attachment to their new friends, to those who have guided them to dance, sing and perform.

Not to mention, producers consider this as a motivation to attract TV viewers. In many adult reality TV shows, the exploitation of contestants with difficult circumstances, especially, taking advantage of contestants' tears is a given, even in children's shows, similar "tricks" are applied. There are even situations where they try to delve into the circumstances of the children, into their psychology to get tears, which can easily cause mental damage.

The fact that they participate in TV shows has made them attract a lot of attention and become part of the producers' "wave-making" script. But I think, even if it is a child talent search program or an entertainment-oriented program, it is necessary to put educational goals first. Don't let children's souls be "corrupted", don't lose their innocence because of what adults try to impose on them and turn them into their own version./.

According to VOV.VN