Ian Nkera Ford
As your usual seven-year-old tries to find his way around the Abacus, another in the frame of droopy-eyed baby rapper Fresh Kid continues to shock the nation. Many insist this kid might be an adult disguised as a child and it is almost believable. His intelligence is way beyond his years. If he is indeed seven, we need to investigate what is being put in his milk.
As you would expect, we never know how to appreciate talent. A talent too great should not be threatened so why be scared to receive it and nurture it? How many of us wish our talents were discovered at a young age? If anything, many of us are way into our adulthood, stuck at jobs we hate because our talent was not discovered early enough or we simply never got the confidence to showcase it to the world.
Others are still soul searching and others just never realise their talents. That is painful. Our education system is largely to blame.The education we get at school is to become intelligent enough to massage someone else’s dream. Where does this leave us? Grumpy at work as we punch our computer keyboards to their death, mschewwing anyone in traffic jam who will not give us way.
Fresh Kid
So here we are, Fresh Kid is upon us, oozing so much talent and people are fidgeting. Let the poor kid be. All these big people in armchairs should protect him at all costs. I can understand Minister Nakiwala’s sentiments about the kid sticking to school. School would have been amazing if it gave everyone an equal chance to shine. Talent is so wasted in the mud. It is so unfortunate that the minister’s comments only isolated Fresh Kid. There are a bunch of children littered on the streets who would kill to be in school but they would not afford it. For them, survival now makes more sense than anything else. Not school or talent. To simply survive. So for a child to rise through this uncertainty to pursue their talents, while going through an education system that stifles talent, is commendable. There are so many Fresh Kids out there but who will notice them? Chances are that nobody will.
My only prayer is that his handlers always remember that he is a child and continuously allow him to be one. Talent should not rise at the cost of the beauty of childhood. Any child who shows signs of early maturity should not be persecuted with the demands of childhood. The burdens are too heavy. This goes for the countless children that are sent out to the streets to fend for their families. A child’s gifts should be nurtured and not exploited. A child is meant to enjoy being a child. If it is music that a child loves, he should enjoy every bit of it. I hope his handlers can be wise enough to protect him from the cruelty of the industry, the evil criticism. When stuff gets real, there is no turning back.
Otherwise, I believe in young talent. Let it blossom, parents. Parents need to spend more time with their children to know the stuff they like or thrive at. Some of y’all are hiding behind the guise of work meeting after another instead of doing this. Do not let your child’s talent die just right before your eyes.
