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I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

wilwheaton.net

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Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#71

Post by alfiedotwtf »

irjustin wrote: post #35
benkwokcy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to catch up. It doesn't matter how good you are, only if you are enjoying it.

At the same time, I understand it. There are some things simply out of reach, music you literally cannot play because those wires weren't built when you were younger.

FIFY: music you literally cannot play because you don't have as much time to practice compared to you were younger.

The wires you speak of come from time, practice, effort and habit - i.e the original meaning of the term kung fu.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#72

Post by manmal »

bscphil wrote: post #36
beebmam wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as you keep your kids away from addictive things, like social media, cell phones, heavily processed foods, drugs, sex, etc, they'll probably figure things out all right. But it seems easier than ever to fall into cycles of addiction in this era, no matter where you live on earth. So I'd say pushing kids away from those things is necessary. Beyond that, I'm not so sure.

Yeah, I think this gets at something important. If the options are homework, reading a book, building something, or playing Fortnight, 90% of kids are going to pick the video game. If most of the time they only have the first three options, finding a better balance is going to be easier. Forcing children to do one particular thing (above and beyond what is required to survive in this cruel world) is probably bad. Mak…

It’s pretty complicated, because from a certain age they might spend time with friends who exclusively play Fortnite, and talk about nothing else.

Additionally, if we just limit screen time too much, that might lead to a feeling of scarcity, and overindulgence when the chance presents itself.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#74

Post by osrec »

jazzythom wrote: post #17

My parents pushed me hard, but sent me to a liberal arts school, and I’m hardwired for engineering. Hilarity ensued. The grinding of gears was a memory I would pay to erase. Deeply resent spending hours every day learning languages for countries I had no interest in visiting and how glaciers formed. What a waste of my finite precious time. If only I could go back I’d run out the gate and get on a train never to be se…

I imagine that airing it out on TV is somewhat cathartic for him; perhaps also a way in which to get closure on the topic.

I also feel like he wants to inflict some of the pain he felt back on his parents, and embarrassing them on TV is the only way to make them take notice. I doubt it's going to do much to heal their relationship, but reading the post, I doubt either party is interested in a reconciliation.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#75

Post by jeswin »

jerkstate wrote: post #73

Quoted post unavailable.

> It's a little sad that Mr. Wheaton felt the need to air his family grievances so publicly.

If they were real and he was exploited, why is it unfair to discuss it? Conversation helps - this is how we make progress.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#76

Post by xupybd »

jeswin wrote: post #75
jerkstate wrote: post #73

Quoted post unavailable.

> It's a little sad that Mr. Wheaton felt the need to air his family grievances so publicly. If they were real and he was exploited, why is it unfair to discuss it? Conversation helps - this is how we make progress.

It can burn bridges but up to him.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#77

Post by nurettin »

irjustin wrote: post #8

Wow Will was such a part of my childhood watching Star Trek. Obviously, he didn't appear often but he was memorable simply because there were so few people as young as him on the show. Sad to hear this all around. This also brought back memories of me being required to play piano growing up. I hated piano, performing (recitals), playing in general. I was terrrribbleee (still am) and was put up in lessons for 12 years…

I wish I was pushed as a child to play the piano. And I did it for my child. He endured it for a year. He's talented and he's at the beginner's level, but when we observed closely, he didn't want to practise. He only did it when we threatened him with stopping the lessons. So we just let it go. Now we have a piano at the house. He sometimes plays whatever he likes. Maybe he will pick it up later in his life. Maybe I will pick it up.

All in all, I guess there is no one good way of raising a kid.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#79

Post by bytelines »

jeswin wrote: post #75
jerkstate wrote: post #73

Quoted post unavailable.

> It's a little sad that Mr. Wheaton felt the need to air his family grievances so publicly. If they were real and he was exploited, why is it unfair to discuss it? Conversation helps - this is how we make progress.

He said he feels sad, not that it was unfair. Sad that, for reasons Will makes very clear, he could not forgive.

Re: I was forced to be a child star. It was never my dream or my idea

#80

Post by palmtree3000 »

carrolldunham wrote: post #5

It feels obvious now that kids should not be on tv at all, by the same logic that they can't consent to sex. They can't consent to the huge ramifications of public exposure.

I don't think Will's experience supports that. It's not that he gave some consent that, looking back on it, wasn't valid. Instead, he repeatedly and explicitly did not consent, and was ignored.
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