JAMAICA | Infant Stars: The Hidden Costs of Digital Fame

On platforms like TikTok, a troubling global fad is taking root: parents turning their infants into public entertainers — for viral laughs, shock value, or even profit. Many clips show adorable antics. Most seem harmless. But behind the likes and shares lies a silent cost that demands the attention of both parents and regulators.

Fame’s Dark Shadow

When the “cute” phase ends and attention fades, the risk of lasting harm remains. We have seen it before with young music stars and child actors: early fame, public pressure, and struggles in later life.

For today’s digital-age children, the danger is greater.

Once their “young and cute” appeal is gone, they may feel abandoned or devalued — yet their videos live on.

A permanent digital footprint means those childhood moments can be replayed and judged for decades.

Innocence for Sale

The concern grows sharper when content moves beyond everyday moments. Increasingly, online “comedy” features toddlers using expletives, mimicking suggestive gestures, performing adult dances, or engaging in behaviours they cannot understand.

These portrayals are not harmless entertainment. They strip away innocence for the amusement of strangers.

Childhood is sacred; trading it for clicks is a bargain no loving parent should make. Jamaicans should reject this trend.

Is It Worth It?

Economic pressures are real, and for some parents posting videos of their children can seem like a path to income. While a few earn thousands of US dollars, these are rare exceptions.

Most earn little or nothing, while the potential costs to privacy, emotional well-being, and dignity are immense.

For example, many teenagers and young adults grow to resent their parents for posting intimate or embarrassing moments when they were younger.

My aim is not to stifle young talent. I began my own journey early, as a radio announcer when I attended Herbert Morrison Comprehensive (“Compre”) and was at that time also an executive producer at the then famous Disco Inferno in Montego Bay, a venue not usually considered suitable for children.

Strong values and supportive guidance kept me safe. But even so that was before the internet’s permanent, borderless reach. Today’s online fame is more intrusive and far riskier.

Let Children Be Children

For those who still feel compelled to post, the child’s welfare must come first. Parents should learn basic digital safety, guard their children’s privacy, and ensure they have time to live offline, unobserved and free to be themselves.

For Jamaican parents, the safest place for your child’s image is with those who truly know and love them — family and trusted friends. Make public sharing the exception, not the norm, because real pickney life much better than clicks.

 

*Cordel Green is an Attorney-at-Law, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, and Vice Chairman of the UNESCO Information for All Programme (IFAP).

Disclosure: This article was prepared with the assistance of Meta AI and ChatGPT.