Week 6 Blog Activity

My reaction to the article that deals sexualization of early childhood didn't surprise or shock me based on the fact that sex is everywhere you look. The television and magazine ads are filled with pictures of young girls and teens wearing provocative clothes which leave nothing to the imagination. It has me to the point where I began to question the intent of the ads. I have had more of a professional experience with sexualization, rather than a personal one because I grew up in a home where the adults made the rules and the children followed them. The adults made the decision as to what we wore and how we wore it; the children didn't make money to buy clothes; therefore, they didn't have a say-so in the process of buying clothes. Professionally, I see girls on a regular basis who choose to wear provocative clothing and frequently hang out in places where they have already been established as adult places. Not only are they dressing like adults, they are hanging out with people who are almost twice their age. These children are growing up too fast and this could be dangerous to them physically and emotionally. For the most part, a pedophile or a sex offender could take advantage of them and the long term effect of this could be that the child doesn't trust adults or it could leave them blaming themselves whereas they never get over this idea that someone has taken advantage of them. As educators, I believe that we ought to form an alliance with the parents so that we may help them talk openly with the children. I think that we should keep parents inform on what the children are doing at school. We could also make sure that we are not guilty of showing provocative images or allowing our children to have access to particular magazines and books.