To discourage DD for a career in performing arts

She can always get other qualifications or an apprenticeship after let her try she may have the time of her life and doesn’t mean she couldn’t do other things after

They are full of dreams at that age. Just make sure it’s not her only one.

Most lads want to be footballers too but 1/50,000 make it.

Drama schools look at stuff done outside school much more than school productions. The passion and commitment must be there more than anything else (obviously talent is also a factor!)

Our daughter is 15 and in y11 and is saying exactly the same. She has been consistent in this for a couple of years so we will support her as much as we can. It is a competitive industry but so are many others and my feeling is we have to at least let her try or she’ll never know

get her along to the local am dram society.. get her involved in the local panto.. and take it from there.. when you say shes done a bit of acting, what do you mean? as in school plays? or paid acting?

I did A-Levels, but some of my friends did diplomas in Drama. It wasn't all acting, and they learned a really well rounded syllabus. History, script writing, creative writing, then behind the scenes things too. Did wonders for their confidence, and they got into university.

One did a straight Drama degree, and she recently did something (I'm not sure what, I only see her FB posts on occasion) at the Edinburgh Fringe. The other decided to do a combined honours of Drama and English, and she's now an English teacher in a very nice school.

I'd just keep a dialogue going about broad options, things she can do if acting in itself isn't enough, etc. There are plenty of jobs Drama can lead to, it isn't all just being on stage and trying to be famous. Your DD will grow up a lot over the next few years too, her plans might change, but if she's creative then this is a nice path for her.

I don't see the harm in it, I assume she would need to do auditions to get in so if she's not good enough she won't.

As long as she works to get decent GCSEs especially maths and English why not.

Better than having no ambitions and just sitting in her room refusing to do anything

let her follow her dream... my youngest did the whole 'performing arts' thing, amateur dramatics, always lead in the school play, cost us a fortune getting her into the best stage classes in the area...

she's 22 now.. and a teacher! not a hint of acting in place.. is it not better to have tried and failed than to have never not tried at all?

If she ends up as a working actress she needs to be aware she will probably still spend a lot of her time working in an office/restaurant/bar/receptionist between jobs.

My dd is very talented, has a drama scholarship to a private school, and I’m actively encouraging her to plan a parallel career alongside the drama school plans. She is told by us at every opportunity just how tough it is and her chances of making a decent living (to keep her in the standard to which she is accustomed!) are very slim.

Surely if she’s 16 this isn’t a surprise… she must have already been in school productions, extra curricular classes, her choice of GCSE’s would have been affected, local am dram, etc etc…

If this isn’t the case, I wouldn’t think she really wants this.

She'll never forget if you discourage her. Let her try, she might surprise you. And if not she is young enough try something else afterwards. Let the boring life decisions wait, there's plenty of time for them!

You can support your children to follow their dreams and to have a back up plan at the same time. For example, if they aren't able to succeed as an actor, what other kind of work in the entertainment industry might they be interested in? PR work, editing, costumes, set design, etc, etc.

support her with following her dreams- and encourage her to have transferrable skills/ experience she can use to earn a living - teaching/ coaching youngsters etc, running drama clubs and other arts related careers. Less threatened by ai than accountancy….

Has she been doing drama at school or in her spare time it is this out of the blue
Fuss she even have skills? I assume there's a n audition process

Why not? If she gets into the sixth form let her follow her passion.

How much acting has she done so far, and is she good at it?

My personal feeling is that 16 is very young to pick a career path and I'd let her go and do a couple of years of something fun whilst she grows up. She will learn some valuable skills that would be useful in lots of careers.