The Sexualization of Early Childhood

As I was reading the article So Sexy So Soon, I found myself shaking my head in disgust, nodding my head in agreement, and feeling sick to my stomach all at the same time.  Many of the scenarios from the article I have seen countless times in the thirteen years I have been teaching.  The entire topic makes me nervous to raise my children in such a sexualized society.  I know I can control what my children see and hear in my house, but once they are with their friends, I have no control.  

Teaching in Las Vegas, I feel that the young children in my classroom are getting a double dose of sexual messages; from the media and from the environment around them. You cannot drive anywhere near Las Vegas Blvd. (the strip) without seeing half naked men and women on billboards and taxi cabs.  The area in which I live and teach is a good half hour or more away from the strip, and is your typical suburb, but I know many of my students are down on the strip quite frequently.  I also know of many parents who work in the adult entertainment industry.  Some of the women come dressed very inappropriately when they come to pick up their children.  They have a difficult time separating what they do for a living and being a mommy. 

 Years ago, there was a third grader in my school who brought and adult movie to school and was showing his friends.  The principal confiscated the movie and took the boy to her office.  The little boy did not seem to understand that he had done anything wrong.  The principal began questioning the boy and found out that he found the movie on his dining room table and there were movies like this all over his house and playing on the television frequently.  Then, this year in my kindergarten classroom, I had a little girl wear a shirt to school that continues to baffle me.  It had an arrow pointing up and said, “My eyes are up here”.  Once I saw what it said, I looked closer at the shirt thinking maybe it was made for an adult.  The shirt fit her perfectly and did not appear to be an adult shirt.  

Being exposed to sexual content and messages too early will have a negative impact on a child’s healthy development.  “Today’s cultural environment bombards children with inappropriate and harmful messages. As children struggle to understand what they see and hear, they learn lessons that can frighten and confuse them” (Levin, Kilbourne, 2009).  Not only can these messages frighten and confuse them, but it will desensitize them to the feelings and needs of other human beings.  They may only see their peers as sexual objects, and not people with feelings and thoughts. 

My awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been increased by studying the topic this week.  Reading the introduction of the book has also made me interested in reading the entire book on the topic.  It is one I will add to my summer reading list. 

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