Sexualized society

I feel that society encourages children to grow up too fast and skip age-appropriate developmental activities. According to Levin & Kilbourne (2009) "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). A few months ago, I started working as a Behavioral Specialist Consultant/ Mobile therapist. Most of my clients are between the ages of 8-10 years of age. I have noticed that the children are much more aware about sex, adult behavior, judgement on gender roles, messages in the music, and television shows. I was talking to one of my friends and we were discussing the constant exposure of adult thought and behavior to children. My friend's daughter is 9 years old and has knowledge of sex, strives to stay cute for boys, and makes decisions based on getting attention from boys. Her mother did not teach her about any of these behaviors. A second factor is music lyrics. In several occasions, I have heard young children singing songs that portray females as sex objects, encourage sexual acts, and teach boys to portray themselves as a dominant figure.

1. I have noticed that shows on the Disney and Nickelodeon channel are also sexualized. The children are often portrayed as boy or girl crazy, encouraging kissing/intimate behavior, dating at young ages, and a lack of focus on future goals. The audience of most of the shows are preteens or younger. The children are learning that the above behaviors are normal and appropriate. It is hard for parents to protect their children fully because the messages are embedded in everyday cartoons and television shows.

2. I was working with a client, she began to talk about sex and condoms with me. I was completely uncomfortable but asked how sex learned this information. She said that she learned this information from her  peers. 

3. Some of the present day children's clothing is a little too mature. For example, some two piece bikini's are very skimpy and are not appropriate for children. The way that the children are dressing makes them look older than they really are which attracts the wrong attention from boys and, sometimes, men. All of this goes along with an oversexualized society. Children are exposed to situations well before they are fully capable of understanding these situations.

Sexualized environment has detrimental harm on a  child's healthy development because it causes them to skip over their childhood and to engage in activities that aren't age appropriate such as sex, early dating, and dress code. Levin & Kilbourne (2009) state ". Today's cultural environment bombards children with inappropriate and harmful messages. These lessons can seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes a bout themselves and their bodies and to have caring relationships in which sex is an important part" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). Young girls grow up thinking that they have to dress and act in a specific way to get attention. Young boys grow up thinking that females are objects and aren't people. 

I think that being aware of the nature of a sexualized society gives the parents a chance to try to influence the children from the home and attempt to give rules that cut out the sexualized experiences. Parents can allow their children to wear appropriate clothing, set up parental controls on media that portrays the sexual messages, teaching children to be themselves and not to conform to societal rules. In times like this, I think about the importance of family interactions and  teaching children that they don't have to conform to other people's images.

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