“童模被亲妈踹”的事件上了热搜后，网友们纷纷表示愤怒和心疼。如果有机会，你愿意让你的小孩当童模吗？
其实不管是在国内还是国外，童模已经是一个非常大的产业了。
- Child model: 童模
- Distinct activity: 独特的活动
- Commercial media: 商业化媒体
Artists have used children as models for countless works over the centuries. Child modeling has become a distinct activity because of the explosion of commercial mediaover the past several decades.
外国父母们让自己的小孩当童模的初衷，一般都是希望培养孩子的性格，或是希望给孩子留下美好的回忆。
- Portray sb/sth (as sb/sth)：将…描绘成…
- Manage to do sth: 设法做某事
父母A：希望她因此成为一个自信的人。
I signed her because I thought it would teach her the skills she would need to portray herself as a confident young woman.
父母B：我绝对无法给孩子拍出这么好看的照片。
I initially thought having my kids try modeling would be a bit of fun. Maybe I‘d get a good picture or two of them, since I could never manage to capture one on my own camera.
但是很多外国父母事后表明，让孩子做童模的结果违背了自己的初衷，如果一切能够重来，他们绝对不会让孩子进入童模行业。
一位童模的母亲给大家分享了她的所见所闻：我不想让孩子认为她只需要“好看”就万事大吉了。
- Fawned all over: 奉承
- Be supposed to: 应该
- Be allowed to:被允许
One day, I found myself standing against the wall of a studio, in the shadows. I was listening to a photographer talk to my daughter:
“Beautiful! I love the way you are looking at me! Keep doing just that, love those eyes, love that smile, love the beautiful girl! Work it for me, work it baby!”
What was my daughter learning? That people fawned all over her because of her looks? That it was good to be admired by significantly older men? That she was supposed to just sit there, not talk, take directions and look pretty? That she was only allowed to be who someone else wanted her to be?
- On one‘s terms:按照自己的主张
父母A：给女儿签约公司是我做过最糟糕的一个决定。
Signing my daughter with a child talent agency was one of the worst decisions that I have made in my parenting career. My daughter is more than just a pretty girl to be molded into what people want to see and as her mother it is my job to teach her that.
父母B：自认为是对孩子好，其实阻止了她做真实的自己。
I thought I was doing what was best for my daughter but in reality, I signed away the opportunity to let her discover who she is on her own terms. I signed away her rights to be herself. This was the worst parenting decision I have ever made.
除此之外，童模事业不仅给孩子带来了负担，也给家庭带来了压力。
- Be on call: 随叫随到
- Juggle: 兼顾
父母C：简直就像是一份父母的工作。
I quickly realized child modeling isn‘t only about having a cute kid with a pleasant attitude. Child models are successful because they have parents who treat it like it‘s their job, too.
父母D：你必须随叫随到，完全迁就孩子的档期。
It‘s a job that requires you to constantly be on call, ready to drop everything with a day‘s notice and drive. It‘s a job that requires you to juggle babysitters for siblings, appointments and the rest of your family‘s life around one child‘s schedule.
但也有父母认为童模不是一种工作，而是和其他兴趣爱好活动一样，可以让孩子感觉到快乐。
父母E：和小朋友一起吃零食、玩玩具，他觉得很有趣。
To him, it‘s a fun activity I‘ve signed him up for, no different from the way other kids go to soccer or music classes. He meets friends, eats snacks and plays with toys. Seeing his own picture later almost always comes as a surprise, as he‘s usually long forgotten about the day he shot it.
