In File this Under What the Heck Were These Parents Thinking? I said:
In my article Children and Pole Dancing I talk about this culture’s tendency to sexualize children.
I talk to teachers all the time and they relay stories to me about what is happening in their classrooms. Often they are hopeful when they feel they are making a difference in children’s lives. Lately, many are discouraged because they feel they are shouldering an unfair burden because they are blamed for what many feel is a failure in the education system. I write about some of the challenges at It's the Culture and the Values, Stupid and Content Ratings Recently, I spoke with a teacher who teaches fourth grade in Snohomish County and she relayed the story of a fourth grader who came to school and was regaling everyone about the joys of pole dancing. At first, I was a bit shocked about a fourth grader who had such detailed knowledge about what I considered to be an adult activity. Then I did a bit of investigation and came across several stories about inappropriate activities for children. First, there is this post from the Huffington Post about The 7 Most Inappropriate Toys for Children and the Miley Cyrus pole dance which can be viewed in the resources section….
The culture seems to be sexualizing children at an ever younger age and it becomes more difficult for parents and guardians to allow children to just remain, well children, for a bit longer. Still, parents and guardians must do their part to make sure children are in safe and secure environments. A pole dancing fourth grader is simply unacceptable.
I love fashion and adore seeing adult looks on adults. Many 20 and 30 somethings prefer what I would charitably call the “slut chic” look. This look is questionable fashion taste, in my opinion, but at least the look involves questionable taste on the part of adults as to how they present themselves to the public.
Jamie Stengle of AP has an article which was reprinted in the Seattle Times, Parents, Doctors Debate Teetering Tots in Heels The only thing I can say about these parents is they probably need their heads examined.
Maybe, because some parents may not know what is age appropriate for their attire, they haven't got a clue about what is appropriate for children. There is nothing sadder than a 40 something, 50 something trying to look like they are twenty. What wasn't sagging when you are 20, is more than likely than not, sagging now.
Kristen Russell Dobson, the managing editor of Parent Map, has a great article in Parent Map. In Are Girls Acting Sexy Too Young? Dobson says:
A 2003 analysis of TV sitcoms found gender harassment in nearly every episode. Most common: jokes about women’s sexuality or women’s bodies, and comments that characterized women as sex objects. And according to the 2007 Report of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, “Massive exposure to media among youth creates the potential for massive exposure to portrayals that sexualize women and girls and teach girls that women are sexual objects.”
Those messages can be harmful to kids because they make sex seem common — even normal — among younger and younger kids. In So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids, co-authors Diane E. Levin, Ph.D., and Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., write that “sex in commercial culture has far more to do with trivializing and objectifying sex than with promoting it, more to do with consuming than with connecting. The problem is not that sex as portrayed in the media is sinful, but that it is synthetic and cynical.”
The result? “Girls are much more sexualized than they have been in the past,” says Amy Lang, a Seattle sexual health educator and the owner of Birds + Bees + Kids. “There is something that has shifted, and I have to wonder if it’s this message they’ve gotten since they were 8, which is that intimacy is less important than how you look.
“They’re dressing in a way that’s more teenager-like. You see a 6- or 8-year-old girl wearing a miniskirt and tights and 1-inch-heel boots. They’re emulating TV shows that they’re watching.”
I suppose there are a group of parents who don't want conflict and give in because “everyone else is doing it.” Remember the everyone else is often the lowest common denominator. Some parents feel they must be their child's BFF. Wrong. You are supposed to be the parent. Some one has to be in charge. Russell provide some excellent resources for managing the media. Find resources for managing media here.
See my articles
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Content Ratings 101: How Do I find Family Friendly Entertainment?
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Is Appropriate Attire One Characterisitc of the True Teacher Professional
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Drew Barrymore: Poster Child for Why We Need Strong Families
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Sharon Osborne is Right, The Cult of Celebrity is Making Our Children Stupid
People, we need to let children be children, not 40 somethings looking for their next score.
Dr. Wilda says this about that ©
Comments
True,and important...let our children be children. Thanks!
Hi R.R.,
Statistics are always tricky and there should be a period of time before a trend is established. I read that teen pregnancy may be on the rise. If true, there are probably many factors, but I bet the sexed up culture and MIA parents are one part.
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