What the child wants to be when he grows up. Why are children's dreams of future professions different in different countries? The country is changing, dreams are changing

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As a child, we all dream a lot, thinking that we can control everything ... and even more. Each of us lived through this wonderful time of dreams and fantasies, so such stories awaken a certain amount of nostalgia.

• As a child, she loved the TV series "Clone". Muslim women were especially admired. I thought that I’ll grow up, get married and, too, will always wear makeup, smart, dance a belly dance for my husband. Increased. Got married. Yeah, right now ...

• In elementary school, they wrote an essay on the topic "What do you want to become when you grow up." In general, classmates wrote that they wanted to be police officers, hairdressers, doctors and astronauts, and I alone wrote that I wanted to become a cat. I just misunderstood the assignment, so I wrote about who I want to be in my next life.

• As a child, I was a sick child, so my mother and I often went to the clinic. I was simply fascinated by the way the cleaning ladies wash the floors. Vshuh-vshuh, turned over the rag, vshuh-vshuh ... Class. I wanted to become a cleaner.

• When I was little, I dreamed of becoming a seller. After all, sellers own stores, which means they can take whatever they want there. This is what I thought until my mother told me the truth.

• I dreamed of becoming a train. Not a driver, but a train. I was always delighted with the way he ceremoniously drove up to the people waiting for him on the platform. The dream never came true.

• As a child, I wanted to become Dima Malikov. No kidding.

• During my school years, I was very jealous of my parents, because they do not need to do any homework in the evenings. I went to work during the day, and the rest of the time go about your business. I dreamed that when I grow up, I will do that too. Now I'm 25. I come home from work and do nothing. The future has come!

• My younger brother dreamed of becoming a squid. In fact, it meant a painter.

And in my childhood I wanted to become a girl of easy virtue. I remember one neighbor who was so beautiful that I can't even describe it. When she drove up to the entrance, all the girls from the yard came running to look at her. She gave older girls clothes, and she gave us nail polishes. She was unusual, standing out from the crowd of other girls. The courtyard grannies always said a typical insulting phrase when they saw her. And then I decided that I would be like her - a girl of easy virtue. Of course, then I said it in a more rude form, just like the old ladies from the shop. The parents even had a tape recording of a conversation with a school psychologist when I was admitted to the 1st grade. I sit there so smartly, and when asked what I want to become when I grow up, I proudly answer that I will become "sh ..."! Mom was shocked, dad was giggling, and I could not understand their reaction, they should have been proud of me.

Seven-year-old Anechka, when she grows up, dreams of becoming a model and earning as much as $ 505 a year, her little brother plans a career as an international spy with an annual income of $ 500,000. Children are always sure that in the future they will only be engaged in things that are interesting to them, and they do not care much about the financial aspects of their "ideal" profession. However, growing up, they are upset to discover that being a ballerina, writer or artist is hard and not always well-paid work.

Business magazine Forbes In October 2008, he published the results of a survey of children aged 5 to 12, conducted in New York, in order to find out what our world will be like in a quarter of a century, if today's kids still listen to the call of the heart and master their dream profession and what will be will be their income.

Based on the data obtained, the experts made a disappointing conclusion: the most attractive specialties for children turned out to be the lowest paid. For example, firefighters, favored by 5 out of 33 6-year-olds, earn much less than doctors and astronauts.

In general, the survey showed that children have a very poor understanding of the value of money. The junior students, by the way, were sure that the head of the police department earned $ 29 a year, the lawyer - $ 59, and the dancers who suddenly became rich against such a background - $ 165 in 12 months.

On the contrary, respondents over 11 years old showed a tendency to exaggerate the size of salaries. They are confident that writers have an income of $ 210,000, and everyone's favorite conquerors of intergalactic space - $ 362,000. It becomes clear why parents so often indignantly taunt their children with the phrase: "Do you think I'm printing money?"

However, the good news for the younger generation is that in today's labor market, more than ever a large number of specialists of completely different profiles are in demand. Whoever the kid dreamed of becoming, according to Forbes, this is feasible.

Astronaut

Although there is no more romantic occupation in the world than plowing the vastness of the Universe, and the astronauts themselves can be classified as representatives of rare professions, you cannot call space workers rich. Even in a country like the United States, they earn no more than $ 87,000 a year, which is significantly less than the contents of the compensation packages of American top managers.

Athlete

The fame of Tiger Woods, the most famous golfer and the wealthiest athlete in the world, who earned $ 100 million last year, haunts American children. They have no idea that "normal" athletes have no advertising contracts with Nike or Gatorade. Their annual income is typically $ 74,440.

Dancer

Popular television clones of "Dancing with the Stars" have created not only among Russian, but also among American kids the illusion that the profession of a dancer is prestigious and in demand. In fact, it is not so easy for both Western and domestic "dancers" to find work, and their wages rarely reach the national average. Even working 40 hours 52 weeks a year, the fees of American dancers barely exceed the $ 29,000 mark. The most talented of them can make 40,000 dollars a year, but only by getting a job at a well-known agency.

Doctor

Years of study, constant overtime and night shifts ... for what? It is known that an American general practitioner earns from $ 150,000 a year, and surgeons and anesthesiologists - about $ 180,000 a year. There is no exact data on the income of Russian doctors: statistical sources operate with too different numbers. According to some data, the monthly revenue of the capital's "aibolits" is about 25,000 rubles, the Moscow region - 17,000 rubles. It is difficult to judge a picture in the regions: we can talk about both 5,000 rubles and 15,000 rubles.

Fireman

Heroes who are ready to throw themselves into the fire, saving the lives of other people, alas, are not appreciated by either the Russian or the American state. In accordance with the new decree of the government of the Russian Federation, from December 1, 2008, the wages of firefighters with all additional payments will be at least 20,000 rubles per month. Their Western counterparts live on $ 42,000 a year.

Movie star

If the baby is unlucky enough to be born Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks or Nicole Kidman, who added $ 92 million, $ 74 million and $ 28 million, respectively, to their fortune last year, he will have to get by with only crumbs from the general Hollywood pie. "Simple" hardworking actors don't drive expensive cars, because you can't buy them for $ 45,000 a year.

Policeman / Police Officer

If law enforcement officers were paid more, the line between law and anarchy would be wider. In Russia, a police officer rarely receives more than 15,000 rubles a month from the state. In the United States, a police officer, on his own $ 48,000 a year, also does not ride like a pancake in oil.

Singer

Yes, rapper Jay-Z made 83 million in a year, and Madonna made "only" 72 million dollars. But is this conceivable for a boy who feeds himself on tips for his songs with a guitar in a small cafe in a sleeping area? If in the homeland of modern pop music, all street singers had the opportunity to work full-time for a year, they would have raised $ 57,220.

Writer

J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, undoubtedly managed to raise the prestige of her profession in the eyes of young readers ... as well as she was able to turn into a billionaire. Her "average" colleagues are content with royalties in the amount of $ 58,000, and journalists - in the range of $ 42,000.

As a child, we all dream a lot, thinking that we can control everything ... and even more. Each of us lived through this wonderful time of dreams and fantasies, so such stories awaken a certain amount of nostalgia.

• As a child, she loved the TV series "Clone". Muslim women were especially admired. I thought that I’ll grow up, get married and, too, will always wear makeup, smart, dance a belly dance for my husband. Increased. Got married. Yeah, right now ...

• In elementary school, they wrote an essay on the topic "What do you want to become when you grow up." In general, classmates wrote that they wanted to be police officers, hairdressers, doctors and astronauts, and I alone wrote that I wanted to become a cat. I just misunderstood the assignment, so I wrote about who I want to be in my next life.

• As a child, I was a sick child, so my mother and I often went to the clinic. I was simply fascinated by the way the cleaning ladies wash the floors. Vshuh-vshuh, turned over the rag, vshuh-vshuh ... Class. I wanted to become a cleaner.

• When I was little, I dreamed of becoming a seller. After all, sellers own stores, which means they can take whatever they want there. This is what I thought until my mother told me the truth.

• I dreamed of becoming a train. Not a driver, but a train. I was always delighted with the way he ceremoniously drove up to the people waiting for him on the platform. The dream never came true.

• As a child, I wanted to become Dima Malikov. No kidding.

• During my school years, I was very jealous of my parents, because they do not need to do any homework in the evenings. I went to work during the day, and the rest of the time go about your business. I dreamed that when I grow up, I will do that too. Now I'm 25. I come home from work and do nothing. The future has come!

• My younger brother dreamed of becoming a squid. In fact, it meant a painter.

• And in my childhood I wanted to become a girl of easy virtue. I remember one neighbor who was so beautiful that I can't even describe it. When she drove up to the entrance, all the girls from the yard came running to look at her. She gave older girls clothes, and she gave us nail polishes. She was unusual, standing out from the crowd of other girls. The courtyard grannies always said a typical insulting phrase when they saw her. And then I decided that I would be like her - a girl of easy virtue. Of course, then I said it in a more rude form, just like the old ladies from the shop. The parents even had a tape recording of a conversation with a school psychologist when I was admitted to the 1st grade. I sit there so smartly, and when asked what I want to become when I grow up, I proudly answer that I will become "sh ..."! Mom was shocked, dad was giggling, and I could not understand their reaction, they should have been proud of me.

• 5-year-old nephew after kindergarten is going to go to the store to work. More specifically, sort out rotten vegetables.

• In the 1st grade I dreamed of being an arms baron, in the 5th grade I already wanted to become a scientist in the field of genetic engineering in order to create ultra-strong biological fibers. After that I dreamed of becoming an economist, and then I decided that I would go to international relations. Now I'm in 10th grade. My dream is to become a pensioner somewhere in Western Europe.

• As a child, she wanted to become a janitor, because she loved to sleep. I thought that the janitor woke up early in the morning, swept quickly and then could go home ... to sleep.

• As a child, I dreamed that when I grow up, I will have my own rock band, with which we will give concerts all over the world. Did not work out. I am the headmaster of the school.

Who did you want to become as a child, and what profession did you choose in the end? Share your stories in the comments.

Actually, we will not know now whether it is true that all the children of the Soviet Union dreamed of becoming astronauts, or if this is another propaganda myth about a wonderful life under a dictatorship. But someone must have dreamed. And, no matter what fans of criticizing modern children may think, some of them still dream of becoming an astronaut. Or a doctor. Or an architect. Or a musician. Most children have a very specific idea of ​​who they want to become. And whatever it is, no matter how far this profession is from the one that you yourself outlined for your "I invest so much in him" child, you need to help him, and here's why.

1. Only 30% of adults work in a profession they have dreamed of since childhood.

2. 60% of people who did not grow up in those whom they dreamed of growing up say that they are unhappy at work.

3. At the same time, 85% (think about it) of those who work as those whom they dreamed of in childhood are happy.

4. 54% of teens taught by pragmatic adults say they are ready to sacrifice their dreams and choose a profession that will bring them more money.

5. At the same time, only 13% of adults are ready to change their favorite job for an unloved one that brings a high income.

What does this all mean? Well, first of all, of course, that, apparently, with age we still get smarter and understand that it is difficult to achieve happiness, and it is not entirely related to the amount of money. This is comforting.

But what is not very comforting is that most children are going to make a terrible mistake and choose who they want to become, based on how much they will earn (and not the fact that they will), and not based on what doing it will make them happy.

These numbers are like a journey into your child's future. Maybe now is the very moment when you need to stop talking with him about money and start talking about who he wants, and should not work when he grows up.

So, how to make the child become what he wants when he grows up.

1. Don't ruin his dreams

Your child dreams of a profession that, in your opinion, does not suit him at all. You can't earn a living with such a profession. Or he dreams of something so powerful that you know for sure - he can never become a doctor or a ballerina. Never. There is no chance. You, too, in childhood dreamed of many things, but could not. It means that he will not be able to either.

This is a rare moment when you, as a good parent, need to shut up. The conversation is now not about you, but about your child. And the fact that you did not succeed in fulfilling your childhood dream does not mean that he will not succeed either.

Or maybe you secretly even want him to fail, so that you don't feel like such a loser against his background?

If you are confident in yourself, you want him to succeed, but your motivation is not so important in this case. You don’t need to tell your child that his dream doesn’t suit you. As crazy as she is, it's your job to support her. Yes, 99 children out of 100 will not succeed, but one will succeed, and perhaps precisely because someone supported him in childhood. Maybe this one child is yours.

2. Make a plan of action

Help your child make a detailed plan of action. Do not limit yourself to the official and meaningless "if you study well, you will become." It won't. You know very well that A's in a certificate does not at all guarantee your child the career he dreams of. You need a detailed plan.

What are the most important items? What should you pay special attention to? What additional courses should I take? What are the best universities and what does it take to get there?

What are some additional skills completely unrelated to this profession that might come in handy? Language? Which the?

Sport? What else do you need to know? What to learn? Who to talk to? And what is plan B if you fail to enter the best university? Is it worth going to a worse university or is it better to work for a year and gain experience?

Whatever the plan, it's time to explain to the child that people very often do not succeed in their plans the first time, and this does not mean that you need to give up. This means that you have to try again. Until the victory.

3. Let him change his dream

Another problem with childhood dreams is that they often change with age, and strongly. And sometimes you exhale with relief, because the previous dream was unrealizable (or did not suit you), and sometimes, on the contrary, you strain. And in families where the child is very supportive and invests a lot in making the dream of a profession come true, children who for some reason change their minds are often afraid to tell their parents about it out of guilt - “Well, what am I going to say now, that now I want to become an architect, not a doctor, when my mother has been paying me a chemistry tutor for five years already.

Explain to your child that he has every right to change his mind at any stage. You will not think worse about him because of this.

Do you allow yourself to change your mind on any occasion, but from a 14-year-old man you demand that he firmly decide on what he will do for the rest of his life?

Help him. It is your primary responsibility to make him who he is.

What children wanted to become in the recent past of Russia

What parents do not dream that their child will take place in the future adult life, get a good profession, earn decent money, in general, so that everything goes well for him. So, about the profession ... If the ideas of the older generation about the future profession of children are often radically opposite to the opinion of their adolescents, high school students, then what to say about who the children want to become, at such a young age, when it seems to be too early to talk about the vocation ...

Nevertheless, to determine the child's ability, you can take a small test that will show in which direction to move!

Nevertheless, even younger students have their own opinion (albeit often changing) about who they want to become in the future. Sometimes children want to become teachers, doctors, engineers, that is, they dream of the most familiar and prosaic professions. But much more often their dreams of unusual and heroic professions. But, that was before, and specifically in Russia, when she was still the Soviet Union. During the great "stagnation", girls dreamed of becoming teachers, doctors, boys - engineers, military men, geologists, often chose more heroic professions, a pilot or an astronaut.

The country is changing, dreams are changing

Everything changed a lot when our country unexpectedly emerged from the many years of Brezhnev's "stagnation", trampled a little on Gorbachev's "acceleration" and rapidly moved towards the rainbow capitalist distances. Children began to dream about who they wanted to become, in accordance with the ideas about the prestige and attractiveness of those professions that at that time seemed the most interesting, promising and profitable. In the nineties In Russia, boys wanted to be bankers, businessmen, lawyers, sometimes racketeers, and girls wanted to be models, movie stars, economists.

Let me give you a concrete example, by the way, from the life of my own family. My daughter was little during the stagnation, and her "blue dream" was to become a tamer of animals in the circus. He even trained our little kitten, and she did it well. But my husband and I, full of pragmatism, explained to her in great detail that this is absolutely impossible, that it is very difficult to enter a circus school, that mainly children of circus artists become circus artists, etc. and so on. Here are the unreasonable parents!


Our little daughter cried bitterly as we took away her childhood dream. When her daughter would have grown up, she herself would have forgotten about the circus, and how she wanted to become a tamer. So, by the way, it happened. The son was a junior high school student in the nineties, then the bulk of people lived financially unstable (delayed wages, rapidly rising prices) and to our questions, who he wants to become, he answered: "I will work for those who have a large salary."

My conclusion not only from my own experience, but also from numerous statistical observations on the topic “What children want to become” is that the preferences of children about their future profession, this is a reflection of real life and the situation in the country in the period of time in which they are young. Most often, as they grow older, children change their minds about their future profession, although not always.

What modern Russian children want to become

At present, the ideas of Russian children about who they want to become have radically changed in comparison with the years of stagnation, but they also differ significantly from the preferences of children about the desired professions, during the "dashing nineties".

Conducted in 2013, a sociological survey among a large group of children from 9 to 13 years old from different schools determined who children want to become when they grow up.

• The first place among boys was found to be engaged in their own business, among girls - to become a “star”.
• Then the most demanded among boys were the professions of “stars”, a programmer, an athlete (everyone knows that big sports are now well paid), among girls - a designer, a business woman, a photographer.
• The last places in this survey for both boys and girls are occupied by the professions of a doctor, scientist and astronaut.
• In general, no one dreams of the profession of a teacher.
• Another small percentage of children said they did not want to work at all.

And here are the specific statements of children about who they want to become when they grow up:

I want to be a star. They earn a lot, dress nicely and everyone loves them.
Alina, 10 years old, survey was conducted in 2011
- When I grow up, I will become a banker, they always have a lot of money, and the work is not difficult, sit and count the money or look at all sorts of documents.
Oleg, 12 years old, 2014 survey
When I grow up, I don’t want to work as anyone, because I don’t like to work. But I still have to, so I will work where they pay more.
Andrey, 13 years old, 2014 survey.

These are the pragmatic and non-romantic our modern Russian children. Perhaps polls and statistical observations do not give a complete picture of who our children want to become, but the tendency to live well and earn a lot is clearly visible.

So, everything about our children is more or less clear. But what about in other countries, what are their foreign peers dreaming of?

What Children Want to Become in Advanced Capitalism Countries

In many countries where life is stable, where there have been no Russian ups and downs, and the social and political system and ideology have not changed for decades, the views of children about who they want to become are somewhat different from those of our children.

What kind of work do children dream of in successful America?

Here are the results of a survey conducted in America in November 2015:

• The profession of an athlete comes first
• The following three places are occupied by the professions of doctor, teacher and veterinarian.
• Next in descending order are the professions of firefighter, scientist and astronaut.
• And the last places in this poll are occupied by the professions of an engineer and a policeman.

And what, little US citizens are more romantic, that they put the profession of a teacher, doctor, veterinarian almost in the first place? This is unlikely, in America, where adults put success and good income at the head of the main American values, children cannot have such idealistic views of what they want to become when they grow up.


Most likely, the fact that these particular professions in the United States are well-deservedly respected and well paid attracts young Americans. But in some ways the views of American and Russian schoolchildren about their future studies converge, and for both of them, the profession of scientist and cosmonaut does not enjoy much success. Maybe because the work of an astronaut (astronaut) is dangerous, and for the profession of a scientist you need to have a talent or, at least, a vocation.

Practical views of German children

And what do the European kids want to become, specifically, the German ones? In November 2013, a survey was conducted in Germany among 500 children from 5 to 9 years old.

• The first place for little Germans is the work of a veterinarian,
• on the second - a football player and a policeman,
• then there are, respectively, a pilot, a race car driver,
• the last one is a firefighter and a nurse.

As you can see, the dreams of German children about who they want to become in the future are quite concrete and pragmatic. They do not dream of becoming "stars" and models, and doing business does not attract them either.

What children want to become in the land of the Rising Sun

Let's see what children want to become on the other side of the Earth, for example, in Japan. The research was carried out among preschoolers and junior schoolchildren up to the 5th grade.

The desires of Japanese children differ significantly from their Russian, American and European peers.

Although the little Japanese, like the Americans, put the profession of a football player and a baseball player in the first place,

but in second place is the work of a cook and pastry chef,

and in the middle of the list is a doctor and a scientist.

Japanese children even dream of getting blue-collar jobs - machinist, driver, carpenter. True, these works are in the penultimate places, but still they are.

Among the preferences of Japanese children about who they want to become, there is a fantastic profession - an anime hero.

But the Japanese girls seem to have left Russia in the sixties and seventies. In the first places among little Japanese women are the professions of a pastry chef, a kindergarten teacher, a doctor, and a teacher.

In the middle of the list are the trainer, nurse, pianist and flower girl. And only a small percentage of girls (the last place on the list of desirable professions) want to work in the field of beauty and show business. The complete opposite of Russian peers.

Who do the little inhabitants of the Earth want to become and, most importantly, why

By what principle do children choose their future professions? And why are the dreams of children about who they want to become in the future, in different countries, are also different? In my opinion, there is nothing complicated in this matter, not the binomial of Newton.

The views, judgments and opinions of our children, and not only on the issue of their future profession, are only a reflection of our adult life. It can be correct, sometimes distorted, but a reflection of adult life and the opinions of the adults themselves of the very country where the children live. The children's desires about who they want to become are influenced by the conversations of adults, TV, the Internet (these are the legislators of any concepts), and their own observations.


They, of course, do not know all the specific features and difficulties of the professions they choose, but they judge by the external signs of the attractiveness and success of a particular job, but this is not the main thing. After all, adults, even having learned some profession, also do not fully imagine until they have worked what exactly their future occupation actually represents.

The main thing is that children, our future and the future of our planet want to become someone, they want to do what they love, and not just mindlessly live and enjoy life like a plant. And it doesn't matter that they often become not who they wanted to be in childhood, and their childhood dreams undergo significant changes later, the main thing is that their adult life is not overshadowed by an unsuccessfully chosen occupation.