The Sexualization of Early Childhood

My reaction to the topic Sexualization of early childhood was shock.  I was shocked at the incidents that occurred with young children.  I am aware of the sexualized culture or society we live in.  Children are being exposed to sexual and graphic depicts very early on from every forum of media to the exclusion of emotional bonds, feelings, and repercussions.  Children “learn to associate physical appearance and buying the right products not only with being sexy but also with being successful as a person.  Such lessons will shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, and values and their capacity for relationships or love and connection, that they take into adulthood” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p 2).  

After I read the article, I immediately thought of my niece Kalynn.  She was a huge fan of the Bratz dolls and I will admit that I bought her everyone that came out.  I did not pay attention to what they were wearing.  I was just happy that she still wanted to play with dolls.  We recently were at the mall and she was approached by a grown man that was hitting on her.  I had walked away to look at something and when I turned around I saw him standing in front of her.  When I approached them he had the nerve to have an attitude with me.  Kalynn wasn’t saying anything to him and I could see that she was uncomfortable.  I stepped in front of her and told the man to leave.  He stood there for a moment and continued to speak to my ten-year-old niece and did not leave until I became angry.  In so many words, I told him that he was a disgusting human being and should be ashamed of himself for even speaking to a ten-year-old child.  At this point the manager walked over and told him that she would call the police if he didn’t leave.

When we left the mall I took a long hard look at my niece.  She was not dressed inappropriate, but her young body has become quite developed.  As we road home, I also noticed that she knew every word to all the songs on the radio.  I turned the radio off and we talked.  I was amazed at all the “grown up” things she knew and almost panicked with worry.  Once we got to my house, she went upstairs to her room there and began watching TV.  I joined her to see that she was watching an episode of Scandal on the DVR and knew the entire plot.  I have not paid attention to what my niece has been doing.  She lives with my parents, but spends a lot of time with me.  She has had such a hard life and I wanted to be the cool aunt and let her have some freedom.  I have since changed my approach and have put parental blocks on both the tv and the computers.  I have begun talking to her about boys, sex, the changes happening with her body and was relieved when she told me that she thought all of it was gross.

The messages that children are witnessing in the media in my opinion are harmful to their perspectives of relationships.  After watching much of what the media provides today someone might think that a relationship is only sexual and might cause children to feel that they must be sexually attractive to be in a relationship.  They do not see caring and warmth and respect in relationships on TV, in movies and in commercials.  This could be devastating to their development and self- image.  As an early childhood professional what I would do to respond to young children’s negative behavior would be to communicate with them.  I would find out where they learned the inappropriate behavior and discuss it with them.  I would try to explain what they saw and share with them alternative behaviors.

My awareness of the Sexualization of early childhood has been greatly increased though studying this topic. I was very unaware of many of the aspects discussed. I am much more knowledgeable about the ways children are being influenced and impacted by sexualization at such young ages. I am more aware of the signs to look out for. My awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced greatly because I did not realize that children were exposed to so much in the category of sex at such a young age.  As an early childhood professional I now know that I must be ready to expect so much and to try to help lay a positive foundation for these children.  “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).

References

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