The key ethical and legal considerations when managing Kenya's young creative powerhouses
Safeguarding young talents involves balancing opportunity with protection, ensuring that their creativity can flourish alongside their rights and futures.
In today’s dynamic society, many children are emerging as creative powerhouses with talents at par with rival seasoned professionals.
The global entertainment industry, in particular, reflects this shift, where the highest-earning child actor reportedly holds a net worth of approximately $4.7 million at only 17 years old.
Closer to home, in Africa, a celebrated 14-year-old Nigerian comedian commands an estimated net worth of $150,000.
Watching her on stage, one cannot help but reflect on the evolving landscape of talent management for young people and the opportunities and challenges it presents.
Historically, education systems placed academic achievements at the forefront, sidelining the arts, sports, and other creative expressions as mere hobbies. This focus left many gifted children without pathways for developing their talents professionally.
However, today’s educational approaches are increasingly recognising creativity and talent as legitimate, future-oriented career options.
Schools and private programmes now abound, especially during school holidays, with offerings in fields like sports mentorship, music, dance, drama, and even coding. There are even youth entrepreneurship programmes that guide children on how to transform ideas into viable business ventures.
While these initiatives support talent cultivation, the monetisation of children’s abilities raises ethical and legal questions. Many commercial enterprises leverage children’s creativity and marketability but fail to adequately compensate or acknowledge their contributions.
For example, when schools host ticketed performances featuring students, it’s common for them to retain all profits without sharing the proceeds with the young performers.
This practice underscores a broader issue: the financial and legal rights of child talents often remain overlooked or inadequately protected.
For young talents who achieve financial success, robust management structures are essential to protect their interests. Talent management for minors requires a careful approach, as children are afforded extensive protections under laws such as the Children’s Act, which guards against child labour.
Notably, labor laws encompass any paid work, even indirect situations where an institution benefits financially from a child’s involvement.
Another complexity lies in the legal capacity of minors. Since children cannot independently enter contracts or hold property, any formal agreements—such as performance contracts—require a guardian or legal representative.
Intellectual property laws recognise children as creators of original work, thus granting them specific rights, yet these protections must be managed responsibly by adults.
Mismanagement by guardians or managers poses risk to child talents. In the US, stringent laws seek to prevent this by requiring transparent and accountable management of child performers’ earnings.
A landmark example is the “Coogan Law,” named after child actor Jackie Coogan. After Coogan’s parents mismanaged his substantial earnings, he took legal action in 1938, prompting reforms that became a model for safeguarding minors’ financial interests. The Coogan law can shed light on how to structure and manage Kenyan child talents.
The evolution of laws and structures for managing child talents illuminates the growing recognition of young creators as contributors to our cultural and economic spheres.
Safeguarding these young talents involves balancing opportunity with protection, ensuring their creativity can flourish alongside their rights and futures.
