The
Sexualization of Early Childhood
My reaction is that sexualization
in early childhood is that is has definitely surfaced in the appearance and
vocabulary of young children.
Children are more technology evolved and they see young children with makeup and sexy clothes on. They see models and teenagers acting provocatively and they want to become a part of this culture. Sexualization is a growing trend in the early childhood field and amongst young children. In my opinion, they want to be grown to fast and by wearing the sexy clothes, makeup and big girl earrings they feel a sense of worth. Children these ages will go through normal sexual development as they develop into teens, but the modern technology has exposed sexualization to a new level. Sexualization can have a negative impact on a child’s social and emotional development. Children tend to react to children who dress a sexy way. This can later affect the child’s self-esteem.
Three years ago, I had a little girl in my class whose mom would let her wear revealing clothes. Her mom also made the notion that she did not want her daughter to plat because she did not want her clothes to get dirty.
The second example is a little girl in class would always wear skirts and would get mad when we told her to sit appropriately, sit with her legs clothes. She would not play with the little girls but enjoyed bossing the boys around in class.
Recently, I had a relative to call me and tell her that another parent had confronted her about her child. The girls are seven and the parent told my relative that her little girl was bringing makeup to school and they were changing their appearances by the time they made it to school. My relative told the parent that she would handle the situation and that both girls were makeup would not be an issue again.
As a early childhood professional, it is valued to be aware of sexualization. As professionals we need to find the appropriate strategies to deal with this topic. I believe that is important to have dress codes in classrooms that will help omit sexulaization in the classroom.
Great blog Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI notice some of the young girls within my center that come in with mom's blush, bright red polish, and child-size appropriate dress shoes, however inappropriate for play and running on the playground. It seems like in this day and age, fashion, sex, and violence, are the only things that get the most attention in our media.
Hello Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteChildren do react to peers who dresses to mature for their age. I find that the images of sexuality in the media enables a child to know who has control in our society. In the past, it was accepted for a person to become successful by doing hard work. Now, we see people gaining attention for all the wrong reasons. If we want sexuality to be promoted in a positive, I believe parents should monitor entertainment around their children. Our society should allow parents to know that it best for children to watch cartoons, not to keep up mainstreams in the media. "Sadly, today, instead of having the positive experiences they need for healthy development, many children are having experiences that undermine it. Today's cultural environment bombards children with inappropriate and harmful messages." (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p.4).
Reference
Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The New Sexualized
Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids, p.4. New York: Ballantine
Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf