The Sexualization of Early Childhood

I will be the first to agree that children are exposed to sexuality at a very young age. I am raising a child in Las Vegas where every other billboard has pictures of half naked women. There are driving billboards with call girl phone numbers and there are many different strip clubs and adult stores. I will be the first to say that I live outside of the main view points of these things but there are times we do have to go near or by these places. Thankfully my son is not at the age where he understands or asks questions but eventually he will be.

As for my children at work, we just had hat day a few weeks back. One of my students came to school in a Hooters hat. When I asked him about the hat he said that he does there to eat with his family. My personal view is that they do have great food but you don't always have to let your young children eat there or wear their hat, this parent shouldn't have allowed their child to wear this hat to school.

As a school we celebrate student reading achievements. This past week a girl received a reward in front of the school. She had a beautiful long red dress that was from her Spanish culture. When she went up to receive her reward one of the kindergarten children yells, "She is sexy!" I looked at the teacher and she looked at me and we questioned if we really just heard that, until he said it again. This is something that he has heard at home or on TV, and was able to use in proper context. The teacher just quietly told him that it wasn't appropriate and he looked devastated because he had no idea. 

Children need to be just that, children. They need to be able to learn and grow without having to experience things that their young minds can't handle, such as sexual content. There is no reason for children to have think or see things that might warp their thinking. They need to be exposed to fun, imagination and learning not something that they might become afraid of or might be inappropriate.

While I think that children are being exposed at a very young age, I also think that parents can do a better job of supervising what their children are watching, buying and playing. As a busy parent myself I know that this is not always an easy task but that is why it is important to talk with your children about things that are appropriate vs. inappropriate.