Ambition is the power that drives success and achievements in life, and as they say “early birds catch the worm”. My little niece has always shows interest in singing and dancing since she was in kindergarten class and her passion keep growing stronger over the years with every performance and opportunity she gets as she takes part in the church children choir and school events.
https://play.3speak.tv/embed?v=thelastdash/29lq7ukv
I have always taken her passion as just a phase that would eventually fade away as she grew older, but now at 10, she even more determined like an adult who knows what he or she is doing. While I was thinking that her passion was just like every other children interest that would soon be replaced with something more practical, this little girl has been doing something real serious behind my back to push her dream to reality.
I just found out this child has opened a TikTok account with my phone and has recorded and uploaded several videos of herself singing and dancing without my permission and knowledge. She even has managed to gain a few followers and likes on her videos. I also found out she has downloaded video recording and editing apps on my phone to help the qualify of her videos and make them looks nicer.
How she managed to do all she did without me knowing is still shocking to me because I was always with my phone except when I was sleeping, taking shower, at the kitchen preparing meals and when I gave her the phone to help make a withdrawal from my bank app at a POS machine across the street.
While I was initially angry about her using my phone especially for the apps she downloaded which are battery and data draining, I couldn't help but admire her determination after watching a few of her videos. Although she felt unrelaxed in most of the videos which I understand could be because she was stealing time to use my phone and recording in secret, I felt that she showed genuine passion for what she was doing.
So, today, I decided to talk to her so that I could know how best to support her dream and speed up her journey in a healthy way. I asked her how she managed to do all that she did without me knowing, and she was just laughing and smiling without saying a word. Then I called her to show me how she recorded and edited her videos so I could understand the process and help her improve the quality of her content. She requested that I allow her to download one more additional app for music sounds and background effects so she won't be singing without proper musical beats in her videos and I agreed for her to download it.
Now I am thinking about the best way to help her achieve her dream while keeping her safe from the danger that comes from social media exposure at such an age. She is just 10 years old and only in secondary school class 1 and I want to make sure she is protected and do not allow social media to overshadowed her education.
I am always busy with my phone and I don't think getting her a phone of her own would be the best idea right now since she is still underage and needs supervision and monitoring. The best I think I can do now is to create a structure schedule where I can allow her use my phone for recording and editing videos at specific times during the week. Ideally, I am thinking of weekend when all of us are at home and I have more time to supervise what she does. This way she can pursue her passion without fear of being obstructed and I get to use my phone without being worried of unauthorized use or damage to the phone.
If you have any better ideas or suggestions on how I can support her dream while protecting her safety and education, I would love to hear from you.