Flem274*
123/5
So growing up I thought it was pretty cool Sachin Tendulkar was 16 and playing for his country. Every kid wishes they could do that.
Looking back at it now though, and having worked with teenagers....can't say it sits too well with me tbh. A 19 year old is very young to be in such an environment with grown adults but it can work (I have managed older teenagers and you do need to treat them a little differently to a 25 year old), and a 16 year old is a child.
Tendulkar got through fine but that is survivorship bias imo. Child actors and children in any line of work really often have serious issues later in life and often have very strong protections in place. As far as I'm aware a teenager in cricket is treated like an adult.
16 year olds have full time employment everywhere in the world but the major difference is they go home at the end of the day. A child in a cricket team is on tour for weeks, away from family and other support in, let's be honest, a high pressure environment full of highly competitive men and often man-children.
I do worry about the next child who is good enough before they finish school. The most recent I can think of is Amelia Kerr who began at 16 and took an extended mental health break before she even turned 22 and that's in a game that is still professionalizing. A male child is coming into a landscape that has escalated from even Tendulkar's time in terms of demand on player time and spotlight with a 12 month calendar, three formats and a lot of franchise cricket.
They will also miss out on just being a kid. I know any 16 year old would say **** that and want to play (I would have) but I think being free to be a young adult is undervalued in professional sportspeople. The oval ball codes in particular might avoid a few behavioral issues if they weren't pushing teenagers hard and early.
Are we putting sports entertainment ahead of the well-being of teenagers, or am I just the fun police?
Looking back at it now though, and having worked with teenagers....can't say it sits too well with me tbh. A 19 year old is very young to be in such an environment with grown adults but it can work (I have managed older teenagers and you do need to treat them a little differently to a 25 year old), and a 16 year old is a child.
Tendulkar got through fine but that is survivorship bias imo. Child actors and children in any line of work really often have serious issues later in life and often have very strong protections in place. As far as I'm aware a teenager in cricket is treated like an adult.
16 year olds have full time employment everywhere in the world but the major difference is they go home at the end of the day. A child in a cricket team is on tour for weeks, away from family and other support in, let's be honest, a high pressure environment full of highly competitive men and often man-children.
I do worry about the next child who is good enough before they finish school. The most recent I can think of is Amelia Kerr who began at 16 and took an extended mental health break before she even turned 22 and that's in a game that is still professionalizing. A male child is coming into a landscape that has escalated from even Tendulkar's time in terms of demand on player time and spotlight with a 12 month calendar, three formats and a lot of franchise cricket.
They will also miss out on just being a kid. I know any 16 year old would say **** that and want to play (I would have) but I think being free to be a young adult is undervalued in professional sportspeople. The oval ball codes in particular might avoid a few behavioral issues if they weren't pushing teenagers hard and early.
Are we putting sports entertainment ahead of the well-being of teenagers, or am I just the fun police?
