I'm certainly no expert in the theory of grooming a child for show business. First of all, the profession is changing and evolving so quickly, it is almost impossible to guide a child into a specific area of entertainment that will exist ten or twenty years into the future.
Computers, the vast internet, cell phones, digital cameras and all kinds of communication devices have expanded the opportunities for youngsters almost exponentially. The road isn't always smooth. Earlier this year, a very close relative of mine (more details later) was involved in a three-month strike by her union, the Screen Writers Guild. They demanded and won commissions and royalties on all communications devices that used their original scripts.
It was so complex that I have just a vague understanding of it, but for instance, every time a person with a hand-held or other sound or video device clicks up a TV show or movie on a subscription service, the original writer must get royalties. In most cases, it is just a matter of pennies per hit, but as my showbiz relative explained, when a million customers click on that movie, song or TV show, those pennies really add up.
The original question about considering show business careers for children should concern parents who may have unreasonable feelings that their child is a potential writer, actor, singer, dancer or musician. I have some experience in just that question, but first allow me to issue a warning. It is very easy for adoring parents, too often greedy ones, to have illusions of raising potential stars. If that's your motivation, you should know realistically that there are very few chances of success for anyone, even the most talented, in a very competitive business. Don't use your childrens' lives as substitutes for your own lost showbiz dreams.
Just do your natural parental duties as well as you can, and guide your children in all potential career directions. See that they get quality education, self-confidence and solid moral values. Then, they can make up their own minds later without being pressured by typical stage parents with totally unrealistic plans. Most simply: just be there for them.
In my own family, I did notice some early talent signs in a daughter when she was six. Without any urging, she began to take an interest in Broadway musicals. We bought her audio tapes (this was before CDs and DVDs), and she began memorizing entire scores from such classics as "Oliver", ""Annie Get Your Gun", "Les Miz", "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and others. Along with her Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose books, she took the tapes to her room, and we could hear her creating new scripts and performing for her collection of dolls.
When she was in high school, she volunteered as an on-air editor, announcer and disc jockey at a local FM radio station. While her grades in math and chemistry were not fantastic, her writing skills made her the darling of her English teachers. One happened to be married to a local TV newscaster, and during two summers, our daughter worked at the station as an intern and news writer.
We didn't have to urge her to choose communications as her major at an Ivy League university, where she earned a partial scholarship to help defray the very high tuition costs. She also interned at that city's PBS TV station during summers, acquiring valuable experience with writing, programming and station administration.
To get through a wonderfully long story quickly, within two months of graduating from the university, she had a junior writer's job on a network afternoon talk show. Since then, she's worked her way up the writing ranks and is now a senior writer/producer on a TV comedy show.
I wish we parents could take all the credit for our daughter's success. Of course, we did our best to provide all the love and encouragement we could at each stage of her creative life. My career was in public relations, executive speechwriting and advertising, and I often took her along on assignments, and when she asked me, I critiqued her school and college writings.
However, maybe the best thing we did was to recognize her talent early, and then let her career flower at her own pace into the beautiful, prize-winning bouquet it has become.