The life of a child model and actor can be tough, with casting directors choosing other talent for jobs, constantly having to be “on”, and the crazy schedules – it’s enough to drive anyone up the wall. The key for parents is to make sure you are monitoring how your child’s mental health is throughout the process. As an adult you can see things they don’t, and children have a tough time communicating their emotions. We find it best to get ahead of the game and ensure you are taking the right steps so that their mental health will always be positive and in doing so they’ll be the best child model they can be. We find there are simple steps you can do in order to keep your child’s mental state at an even keel. Here are our tips for ensuring your child has a positive outlook on life, while dominating the modeling industry.
Your child will be spending a lot of time working, and in order to decompress they’ll need to do something that has nothing to do with modeling. This is where we suggest finding a hobby that will take up the time they have when they’re not working or studying. It could be a sport, or art, or chess, or even something as simple as a once a week music lesson. The key is to find something they enjoy that takes their mind off of child modeling, and the industry.
Physical fitness is an important factor to positive mental health. It is known that it releases endorphins that in turn can make you happy. We aren’t suggesting they set up a gym membership and start training for bodybuilding competitions, but a few hours a week should be spent working out. That could also be a part of their hobby if they are joining a sports team. They could also go for regular walks or run around the playground, anything to get their heart pumping.
Whether it be with friends or colleagues, the more impactful relationships they have the better. As humans we crave social interaction and even more importantly, social acceptance. If they have friends that they see, or other child models they enjoy working with and seeing on set, it can truly help their overall mental health. Having kids that they can talk to about modeling, or about anything at all helps their confidence in ways we can’t imagine.
Even though they are child models and child actors, they are still a child and need to act like it. On days off they should be playing with friends, running around, eating snacks, and simply enjoying “normal” life. Their childhood is so important, and taking it away from them in order to have a career almost never works as we’ve seen with over-dedicated children. It is too easy to burn out that way. Let them be kids, and their overall outlook on life will be positive, which in turn will improve their modeling careers.
The family unit needs to be a safe haven for child models. Be there to raise them up, and always take time out of the day to just be family. Regular meals at the dinner table are a great way to have family time that is separate from their work. Use this time to let them vent their frustrations or simply talk about their day. It will work wonders for their mental health.
A child’s mental health is extremely important because of how it can affect their adult lives. We’ve seen countless examples of child actors and models who didn’t have the correct support system around them, and suffered in their older years because of it. At Bensimon Model and Talent, we want your child to thrive on and off the runway. As long as it’s taken seriously, your child will love their job, and their life outside of it.
