Having a child who shows a special interest in performing arts is the same as having a child who shows an interest in anything else such as sports, computer technology, cooking, sewing, rebuilding engines, art, wanting to be ASB President, or be on the speech and debate team. It all takes the support of a child's parents to help them explore their interests to achieve their goals. How else will children find out if this is what they really enjoy doing or if they are any good at it. Any skill takes time to learn and develop. It's nice for children to explore several different interests, if possible, when they are younger to find out what they might want to do with their future. To me, it's the old "you never know until you try" attitude. But, it does take commitment without jumping from one skill to another. Each new skill needs time to develop to see if it is something your child wants to continue with, i.e., a season of baseball, not just a couple of games, or a year of dance, or doing a community theatre play and seeing it all the way through without quitting because your child didn't get the part they wanted - they should want to perform because they love it and just want to be a part of the show, not just because they are the lead. No matter what a child's interest is, it takes commitment and support from parents for nurturing and guidance.

"Show business" is truly that - a business. For children and their parents, it can definitely be a very positive venture with many life experiences that are a major role in their growing up and learning to interact with all types of people and situations at an early age. The children that are working actors become more self confident and usually do well in school, being able to relate to more about the world around them, but at the same time staying the child that they are.