When Kids Go Online: Balancing Fame, Safety, and Growth

Two days ago, I was Facebook scrolling videos until I found an account I had been following for a while. It's a mother of three who have been sharing good hacks for lifestyle, hairstyles and food. On that particular video, she was celebrating 10 years of marriage anniversary with her husband, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Then I decided to visit her page for more updates that I may have missed because it's been a while I stopped by on Facebook. On her page, I found an account she is managing that belongs to her first child (a daughter). It wasn't as surprising as when I played one of the videos of her daughter making her own content from her little room.

The 8 or 9 year old girl was talking to her viewers confidently and taking them with her to prepare for school. She started from making her bed, changing into a towel (she cut that bit), brushing her teeth, taking her bath (cut out) and putting on her uniform. Her accent sounded beautiful and it seemed like she was meant for the camera.

What I noticed was, she was alone in the room with her tripod stand and her phone recording what she wanted to be recorded, there was no suspected supervision but it was very clear to anyone who would think positively about that video that the mother have done the main job of letting the daughter know what can be shared.

The daughter seemed so intelligent and knew just what's right to do even though she's getting attention from viewers. The comments were mostly positive too because most people saw how well taught this little girl is before she was allowed to own an account that is managed by her mother. And she has got what media loves.

I can safely say, children can be influencers but not without supervision and prioritising the signs if the children want such life or not. I believe every parent know their children well enough to know what they enjoy doing and what they don't, that should help in realizing if a kid can handle growing a following and sharing what they've got.

The downside to this, as with anything else in life, is the inconvenience it will cause for such a child in school especially in our country Nigeria. Except the child attends a school with good morals, security and well grounded teachers, it will be hard for an influential child to not be perceived wrongly by other kids or even teachers.

Maybe the parents are making profits out of this new development but we do know how costly it gets to raise a child so even if they may be doing it for themselves, they are also doing it for the kids. Another point I'll take this from is, the world is going digital and whether we like it or not, more kids will find their interests in social media just as other kids found other interests. Being a good guide to them is the best the parents can do.

Of course, there are downsides to every action humans take. It's why it's not for everybody to do. The parents who decide to let their children be influencer, they made their choice and my only advice is, they should prioritise the mental and social health of their children just as other aspects. That should give them a hint to do what's best for their children and the society.