I think there should be more child-leaning media where the shy character is encouraged to do something outside of their comfort zone (perform in a talent show, try a new sport, submit their poem to a contest, etc) where the end isn’t “they were secretly amazing at it the whole time all it took was some courage!!!”
I want them to sing badly on stage, I want them to do poorly at the sport, I want them to not win the competition. I want the lesson to be that succeeding isn’t always the goal— hell, that’s usually not the goal! More often than not, real growth comes from trying things, and doing things you’re not naturally good at. Finding out what you like, and doing that thing even if you’re not “good” at it. Sometimes you won’t meet your own standards, and that’s okay— as long as you get something out of the process. For young people, I think that lesson is even more important (though obviously this is applicable to everyone).
TLDR, we should be showing kids that you don’t always need to be “good” at what you enjoy— enjoying it is the important part.
