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
Carrie,
ReplyDeleteI think the parents response, or lack thereof, towards their children's behavior is what frustrates me more than anything. It seems as if because the parents are younger and younger having children, and missing out on their younger days or their own childhood, the children suffer. I wonder what the parents reaction was to the nine year old boy who received a condom from his 13 year old brother.
Shannon
I had an experience with a parent similar to yours concerning a song. This parent had his daughter when he was 17 and found it okay to allow his three year old to listen to rap songs. I was in the car with him and his daughter when she began singing a song that made me blush. Her dad just laughed when I asked if she really knew the words. His response was with a laugh, "yeah, she loves this song." In this situation, I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to step on his parenting toes especially since I am not one myself.
DeleteKaitlin, I personally, would have had to intervene, and the reason being; your are an educator that has learned and experiencing through observation of children you what sexual socialization is doing to their emotional and mental state of being. Because you and this person are friends, it would be better coming from you than someone else. Thank you for your response.
DeleteShannon, I must certainly agree with your comment. I too was a teen-age parent, and I'm the first to say I had no clue as to what a productive and healthy parent should be at this age. It was because of the help of my mother and family that I learned what healthy parenting skills was all about. It's not to place judgement on teen-age parents, but in reality the word speaks for itself. "Teen- age" meaning young, still learning and lack of knowledge; especially in the parent area. Thank you for your response.
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