Week 6 Blog: The Sexualization of Early Childhood

Gender is the first core identity that gets young children’s attention. It develops very early: By age 2, children begin to notice physical differences and begin to describe themselves as boys or girls. Although they are not yet sure what that means. By age 3, children have ideas about behaviors, activities, and toys that go with gender (Derman-Sparks & Olsen, 2010).

Share your reaction to the topic of the sexualization of early childhood.

After reading the article, So Sexy So Soon; honestly speaking, it did not seem to surprise me one bit. The reason being, I have been working with young children for over eight years and the things that I have witnessed and heard has been very disturbing.   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, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). This statement alone explains why our children in today’s society have changed tremendously over a decade. Too much exposure to the internet, radio and television has played a great deal in this change. I had a child in my classroom that just turned three years old and she could recite every single word in Keri Hilson song “Pretty Girl Rock,” and would move her body like a grown women. At first it was cute; until I noticed her lack of interest in what was going in within the curriculum and classroom activities. This went on for a while, then I brought this to her mother’s attention, and she replied with a laugh, something to the affect, “She loves to sing, especially Rap and R&B.” I had to keep my composure, because the parent seemed to be more enthusiastic about the child’s interest in singing than her learning.  We are deeply worried. Children are paying an enormous price for the sexualization of their childhood. Girls and boys constantly encounter sexual messages and images that they cannot understand and that can confuse and even frighten them (Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). I’m not saying that it’s anything wrong with young children demonstrating their talent. The problems comes when children talents is sexual and explicit to the point where it is not a healthy act for a child of such an age.

Provide three or more examples, from your personal or professional experience, that further illustrate the exposure of young children to a highly sexualized environment.

I had a little boy in my classroom who loved to play in home living. Every day during free play, he would be the first to run in this area. I noticed that most of children did not want to play with him, so this made me suspicious. I start watching him and he would do certain acts with the dolls, when I asked him what he was doing, he said “My mom and dad do this in the bed.” Of course my mouth dropped with disbelief.

Another incident that I experienced since being an early childhood educator was when a school age brought a condom to school and placed it around his fist and chased a girl during outside time. When I asked the child where he got the condom from, “he stated that my brother gave it to me in case I needed to use it,” now mind you his brother is only thirteen years old. This is a nine years old boy, that brother feels the need to give him condoms in case he wants to have sex. The child was written up and the parent was informed of the incident.

Explain the implications this may have on children’s healthy development. Include ideas you might have, as an early childhood professional, to best respond to these concerns and to reduce the negative impact on children.

Both boys and girls are routinely exposed to images of sexual behavior devoid of emotions, attachment, or consequences. They learn that sex is the defining activity in relationships, to the exclusion of love and friendship. They learn that sex is often linked to violence (Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). I personally believe that a child sexualization environment plays a significant role in the child’s sexual approach on certain things. Sex orientation is a healthy part of a child understands while growing- up. I just believe as a parent and early educator that the sexual approach the child is being introduced to is crucial to the child’s healthy development.  

Describe the ways in which your awareness of the sexualization of early childhood has been influenced and/or modified by studying the topic this week.

Sadly, today, instead of having the positive experiences they need for healthy development, many children are having experiences that undermine it. 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, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). With this being sad; because this is such a sensitive topic to introduce or even explain to children, it is imperative that the approach is clear and presentable where the child can and will receive it. The problem is not that children are learning about sex when they are young. The problem is the particular lessons they are learning in today’s environment (Derman-Sparks & Olsen, 2010). 

Resources

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

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