In reading through the article of “So Sexy So Soon” I was not surprised
nor shocked by the topic of sexualization. Although we do know as adults “Children growing
up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex
and sexiness in the media and popular culture” (Levin & Kilbourne 2009, p. 2). But we need to ask ourselves as
parents where are we when are children are watching or learning about such
information? Are we there to explain their questions or bring up issues that
you as parents feel need to be addressed? Likewise so many parents are saying
that young girls are dressing more and more like grown women. But who is really
buying the clothing for these young girls to wear? Parents also allow their
young girls to have role models such as Taylor Swift, and Beyonce, which I feel
are very great performers, but some young girls hold on to every word they say,
and the way they dress. Moreover some parents allow their children to date at a
very young age without telling them the real meaning of dating is to find a
mate in life. Furthermore some parents are even afraid that they are stepping
out of bound or snooping when asking their children questions about anything to
do with sex.
The
first personal experience I had on how young children are exposed to a highly
sexualized environment is when my grandson came home when he was about seven
and a little girl had drew a picture and labeled the people in the picture as
him and her. She drew a picture of them laying on a bed and him on top of her
and had the words coming from her mouth saying, oh baby. She then had two boxes
to check saying if you want this to happen check this box and if not check this
one and she would get someone else. Now, by all of this flying right over my
grandson’s head he brought the note to his mom and asked her what should he do?
My daughter then assured him that she would take care of it for him. The next
day she went to her son’s school and talked with the teacher, and eventually got
together with the parents of the little girl. After talking with the parents she
really felt sad for them because they too were lost for words, and so unaware
of how their daughter was expressing herself sexually. The second experience I encountered
was one year in teaching pre-k we had a wonderful mother and her son in our
program. The mother was always willing to help out with anything needed, and
was really involved in her child’s learning development. However every time the
mother would visit the school she drew a lot of attention to herself by the way
she dressed. Her tops were low and her skirts were high. Not only did she seem
to make the other moms uncomfortable but the dads as well. But one day after
bringing her son in late from a dentist appointment I notice a couple of the
boys huddled together looking with their eyes wide open as they could possibly
get while looking at this mother’s appearance. I never really got close enough
to the boys to hear what they were saying but their expressions did say a lot. My
last experience was another professional experience in hearing a group of
children talking in the dramatic play area about where babies come from. One of
the children said the mommy go to the doctor and the doctor put the baby in and
then she go back and then mommy and daddy bring the baby back. But before
anyone else could give their say on where babies come from, one little girl
said, that’s not where babies come from they come from your parents having sex.
The rest of the children looked confused and begin saying to the little girl
that she was going to get in trouble for saying a bad word. By this time some
of the children begin leaving the area and the timer went off for clean-up
time. But in hearing this short conversation I realized that although the
little girl mention the word sex, some of the other children had heard it
before to even feel that it was a bad word.
Therefore when children do not have a parent or someone to explain
what they are seeing or hear through the media or other resources about
sexualization, sexuality, or sex, children begin to learn from what they see or
hear as being reliable information that could possibly put them in danger. Therefore
as parents to reduce the negative impact on young children I feel parents need
to use every opportunity of the media, from posters, to the music awards or commercials
to help children understand information about sexualization. More so as early
childhood professionals we should not shy away from such topics when young
children bring them up. “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.
As children struggle to understand what they see and hear, they learn lessons that
can frighten and confuse them. These lessons can seriously harm their ability
to grow up to have healthy attitudes about themselves and their bodies and to
have caring relationships in which sex is an important part” (Levin & Kilbourne 2009, p. 4).
In reading this article I believe my awareness
of sexualization has been awaken by studying this week’s topic. I believe that
as early childhood professionals we have to be aware that sexualization do not
only affect girls, but, boys as well. Also as professionals we need to help our
families understand that within the family to help keep their children safe
their need to be a healthy development appropriate taught about sexualization,
and sexuality, and sex within the home environment at an early age. “Early
childhood is when the foundation is laid, and that is where we need to start
our efforts to understand and respond” (Levin & Kilbourne 2009, p. 5).
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 (pp.
1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf
You have some very shocking examples of sexualization. However, the last example addresses the issue of sex and sexuality more than sexualization. I found that my children around 3 and 4 years old had a lot of questions about their sex and where babies come from. I would try to answer their questions as simply as possible and wait to see if they needed more information. It was always a passing phase. I think that by seeing living examples of good healthy relationships and by having parents that were willing to answer their questions with honest and accurate information this helped to combat the effects of media sexualization (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). We are very open to discussing issues of sex and sexuality in our house, but we have restrictions that are used to shield our children from early exposure to sexualization. These restrictions always come with an explanation of why we are choosing to restrict certain experiences. So far our children have responded well. Our oldest is 15 years old and she already seems to be able to self-regulate because of her awareness of the hidden messages behind certain images.
ReplyDeleteLevin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf
Hi Edith,
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am not very surprised at the sexualization of childhood in today's society. I am saddened by it, but not surprised. It seems that children in these times lose their innocence a lot earlier than previous generations. I remember having my first boyfriend in 4th grade. That was the grade that I really remember boys and girls starting to notice each other and "going out" with one another. Not much came out of the relationship except passing notes,hand holding, and pecks on the cheek, but now that I look back, it seems like such a young age for all that to occur. That seems to be the norm now. Sexualization is so prevalent in our society. All children have to do is watch commercials or listen to music and they will be exposed to it. As you mentioned, parents do allow for a lot of it to happen. They buy the clothes and allow the kids to listen to the music. I don't know that you can put all the blame in one specific area.
Hi Edith,
ReplyDeleteI like the comment you made asking “Where are we when our children are watching television and being exposed to sexualisation”? It is so true that both parents and educators need be aware of what children are being exposed to and be available to answer questions and provide explanations about what children are observing. We cannot keep children from viewing such things because these messages are everywhere, but it is our duty to provide them with positive examples and understanding as well. In my opinion, children are exposed to a lot of unsupervised screen time because it acts as a free babysitter. We need to think about the impact that the easy road can take in the healthy development of children. As a parent, not supervising a child’s screen time or as an educator who sweeps an uncomfortable situation under the rug rather than discuss it openly.
Thanks!
Rhiannon
I agree that some children innocene is lost at such an early age. In my hometown, we never had a sexual education class, and in return we had a lot of teen pregnancies. I do believe if some of the students were taught about the importance of safe sex this could have helped the problem. Also, discussing sexuality differences was not appropriate at our schools, which left some feeling isolated, including one of my best friends. I do believe in talking about sexuality and educating children about this topic is important as long it is done in a age appropriate way.
ReplyDelete