Week 6: The Sexualization of Early Childhood
In today’s society, boys and girls are receiving all
kinds of messages related to sex through the media. I was working with students
from a 2nd grade class. Seven year-old Tamera arrived and politely
put her belongings in the cubby. As she emerged from the closet, she was
wearing some large hooped earrings. Her classmate Mitchell asked Tamera why she
was wearing those big circles in her ear. Tamera shouted “This is how I can get
a boyfriend and have a baby….I can get my sexy back…I get it from my mama.” When
I heard that phrase, I was unsure of how to react. Could she have been modeling
her mom’s behavior? It’s interesting how we sometimes think children aren’t really
paying attention to the things we say or do.
Six year-old Corsica and Shane were clapping and
singing cheers on the playground. Corsica sings “My milkshake brings all the
boys to the yard” as she sticks her bottom out and continues shaking from side
to side. After asking her about where she’d heard the song, she explained a
popular music video that comes on the music channel every week. She also
explained that if she wore tight pants like the singer in the video, she would
get more friends to like her.
Eight year old Kaylee asked her classmate Josh “What
does it mean to knock someone up?” Josh said “I don’t know” and continued
reading his book about glaciers.
If young children are exposed to sexualized content,
this may negatively affect their development because they will unintentionally say
the wrong things which can upset peers, parents and others. Further, children
can watch something on television and believe it’s real or acceptable to
imitate sexual behavior.
As I heard some of these comments, I found it
extremely challenging to respond to. I think it’s very important to tell
children to ‘not believe’ or imitate everything that they see on television. It
is also essential for them to understand that they don’t have to look like
someone else to be accepted.
Tiffiney,
ReplyDeleteThinking about this topic made me realize that we need to teach children that the most important part of us is inside or how we interact with others. It is not our appearance or how we look. I think people in my age learned it naturally from adults, books and media since this was so fundamental. However, I believe that teachers need to raise voice for it so that other children do not mislead children.
I have raised 3 boys and have tried to teach them how to respect women despite what they are seeing and hearing on television. So far I have been successful because my son who is dating is very respectful of his girlfriend. My husband contributes some of it to the the fact that he has grown up with parents who are in a committed marriage and are respectful of each other. With the things I am seeing and hearing in the media I am scared for my daughter. Her brothers are very watchful of her and what she does and who she hangs out with but eventually she will be the only one left and they can only protect her so much. It is not that I am scared of what she might learn but what young men out there are learning from families with different values or lack of values. Society has certainly changed from when I was a teenager and to think our parents were worried about what we were learning. I had to tell my mom that compared to what is out there now she had nothing to worry about.
ReplyDeleteHello Tiffiney
ReplyDeleteI was not suprised by your answers. Children these days say whatever they feel. Media, in my opinion can have a negative outcome. I think that some of these negative thoughts can be eliminated if we would monitor the music and television programs that our children watch. Parents brag when they see their young children dance sexy, but do not realize that it can lead to something else as they grow older.
Hi Tiffiney,
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is not surprising as to what children see or hear now a day. Our children are exposed to so much especially in the media,family and other peers.
Erica Hines