Whole Kids Project

Girls Growing Up Too Fast

From Family Circle Magazine via MSN:

The Sexy-Girl Syndrome

The job description for parent says you prep yourself for the dicey stuff kids are likely to ask for. So I was ready for the day my daughter would beg for a fashion doll of notoriously unrealistic proportions, or even for one of those skimpily dressed Bratz dolls. Instead, last fall my 7-year-old freaked me out a whole different way-by begging for a bra. "Two girls in my class have them," she argued.

Skeptical that she'd gotten her facts straight, I checked out a local children's store. Yikes! They had a whole assortment of flirty bras and panties perfectly sized for second-graders. Staring at those crazy underthings, and at the body-glitter tubes on the counter, something creepy dawned on me. Today's girls don't just want to own a hot-looking doll, they want to be one.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so shocked. After all, my daughter and her friends are more likely to worship teen heroes like Troy and Gabriella from the High School Musical movies than to expend energy adoring cuddly cartoon characters like the Care Bears. And these same kids are the ones shaking their little booties when the Pussycat Dolls come on the radio, singing, "Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"

Clearly, something's going on, so much so that the American Psychological Association (APA) recently convened a task force on girls' sexualization. "There's a real syndrome happening, and it's picking up speed," says Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, who chaired the APA group. "Even little girls are now feeling they should look and act alluring." Her committee found that this is harmful to girls on several levels.

"The core issue is what they feel valued for," Zurbriggen explains. "It's as though factors like whether they're smart or funny or kind or talented at something like sports or art get erased." And their self-esteem suffers for it. "The images their idols present are so idealized, most girls can't attain them. That makes them feel bad about their own bodies, and this can eventually lead to anxiety and depression," Zurbriggen says. Preoccupation with their "hot-o-meter" score can even hurt their school performance. "A girl's mind becomes literally so full of worries about how she looks and what other people are thinking, she doesn't have enough energy left to focus on learning," says Zurbriggen.

So, what to do?

Forget about overreacting. Sending your daughter to school in overalls, clutching your old prairie-skirted Holly Hobbie doll is like putting a giant "L" on her forehead and a "kick me" sign on her back. The idea is to help her live in the real world while preserving her innocence and honoring your family's morals. Try these tactics:

• Cut back on the TV consumption. Her shows, your shows -- just watch less. A 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that the proportion of programs with sexual content rose from 54 percent to 70 percent between 1998 and 2005. And learn what the mysterious ratings at the start of kids' shows mean. Stuff tagged TV-Y or TV-G is the tamest. Other ratings require you to make a judgment call. You can get the scoop at www.fcc.gov/parents/parent_guide.html.
• Teach your daughter how to think like a critic. When she does watch, try to join her. "That way when something questionable pops up, you can point it out," recommends Durham. Levin suggests regularly exposing the ridiculous or unrealistic sides of on-screen scenarios. For instance, you could try, "Don't you wonder how London gets her homework done when she spends so much time in front of the mirror?"
• Monitor Web choices. Just because a Web site is linked to a TV show doesn't mean it's healthy or wholesome. Try bookmarking a few quality sites like pbskids.org or starfall.com, which are chockablock with fun learning games. "Be picky," says Maria Bailey, founder of bluesuitmom.com, an advice site for employed moms. "Thirty four percent of children will visit some kind of social networking or vitual-world Web site this year." One new option about to be launched is the Precious Girls Club social network, where girls can earn points for engaging in kind behavior (preciousgirlsclub.com).
• Promote other kinds of idols. Show your daughter women she can admire for what they do, not for how they look, advises Richard Gallagher, PhD, director of the Parenting Institute at the Child Study Center of New York University. You could take her to a community musical and afterward meet the actress whose singing she loved. Or how about attending a local women's basketball game, where she can give the high-scorer postgame congratulations? And even if you aren't a fan of every female on the political scene, point out how cool it is that women are so prominent there.
• Help her explore her talents and interests. Whether it's tennis or chess, being good at something gives girls confidence. "Sports especially are great," advises Levin. "They help girls value their bodies for what they're able to do, not for how pretty they look."
• Hold the line on makeup and glittery clothes. "It's not enough to just say no," warns Levin. "Your daughter will be exposed to these things anyway, and if you clamp down entirely, it'll only set the stage for her to rebel later on." Instead she suggests moderation. If your daughter begs for a cropped top, for instance, layer it over a longer tee or tank, or let her wear it only at home.
• Mix up her peer group. Invite over a kid from another class in her grade, or sign her up for an activity that isn't school-based (such as karate or art). Spending time with other kids, other ideas, other ways of doing things widens a girl's world and reduces the pressure on her to follow the crowd.
• Guide the gift-giving. Tell grandparents and other relatives that you're trying to hold back on the sexy stuff, says Levin. Ideally, they'll shop more sensitively.

Newsweek: The Pornification of a Generation

Newsweek has a very good article on what they call the "pornification" of an entire generation of youth:

In a market that sells high heels for babies and thongs for tweens, it doesn't take a genius to see that sex, if not porn, has invaded our lives. Whether we welcome it or not, television brings it into our living rooms and the Web brings it into our bedrooms. According to a 2007 study from the University of Alberta, as many as 90 percent of boys and 70 percent of girls aged 13 to 14 have accessed sexually explicit content at least once.

But it isn't just sex that Scott is worried about. He's more interested in how we, as a culture, often mimic the most raunchy, degrading parts of it—many of which, he says, come directly from pornography. In "The Porning of America" (Beacon), which he has written with colleague Carmine Sarracino, a professor of American literature, the duo argue that, through Bratz dolls and beyond, the influence of porn on mainstream culture is affecting our self perceptions and behavior—in everything from fashion to body image to how we conceptualize our sexuality.

The article continues:

The prevalence or porn leaves today's children with a lot of conflicting ideas and misconceptions, says Lyn Mikel Brown, the coauthor of "Packaging Girlhood," about marketers' influence on teen girls. "All this sex gives a misinformed notion of what it means to be grown-up." Studies show that kids who consume this kind of sex in the media inherit more traditional views of gender—boys as dominant, girls as submissive, in the bedroom and beyond. (In a survey of 244 high-school students earlier this year, researchers at the University of Michigan found that those who frequently viewed talk shows and prime-time programs with sexualized content endorsed sexual stereotypes more strongly.) Kids are less likely to know when and how to express themselves sexually—or what behavior crosses the border into sexual harassment. As part of their research, the authors of "Porning" talked to middle-school teachers who told stories of girls sending half-nude pictures to classmates they'd barely met, then strutting around in classrooms in provocative clothing to reveal what's underneath.

The authors of "So Sexy So Soon" (Ballantine), which came out last month, believe that part of the problem for children is that they lack the emotional sophistication to understand the images they see. Last year, the American Psychological Association put out a compelling report that described the sexualization of young girls: a process that entails being stripped of all value except the sexual use to which they might be put. Once they subscribe to that belief, say some psychologists, those girls begin to self-objectify—with consequences ranging from cognitive problems to depression and eating disorders. "It's not as if we get our ideas straight from porn about what a kiss should be or what sex should be," says Sharon Lamb, a psychologist at Saint Michael's College in Burlington, Vt., and a coauthor of the APA report. "But you do see imitation of sex that was once found only in porn. It's a kind of education to kids about what sex is like before they have a real education of it."

This is one of the reasons that we were so appalled by Nationwide Children's Hospital decision to rename their emergency room The Abercrombie & Fitch ER.  Abercrombie has been, and remains, a primary objectifier of children.

The hospital, in partnering with one of the worst corporate offenders, is harming the very people they should be protecting. 

Scholastic Drops Bratz From Schools

I received this from the CCFC:

Thanks to you, Scholastic, Inc. will no longer be promoting the highly sexualized Bratz brand in schools. 

In April, 2007, we launched a letter-writing campaign urging Scholastic to stop promoting Bratz items at their book clubs and book fairs. You flooded Scholastic with emails urging them to stop selling books such as Lil' Bratz Dancin Divas; Lil' Bratz Catwalk Cuties; and Lil' Bratz Beauty Sleepover Bash.

We were disappointed in Scholastic's initial response. They claimed the Bratz books were important to reach "reluctant readers." This claim seemed disingenuous, especially when the 2007-2008 Scholastic Bratz items included the Bratz: Rock Angels computer game and the Bratz Fashion Designer stencil set so elementary school students could design "the perfect purse."

But we kept the pressure on. And in the end, more than 5,000 emails from CCFC members were too much to ignore. Scholastic has confirmed that they will no longer be selling Bratz Items in schools.  We applaud Scholastic for this decision.
If you would like to thank Scholastic, you can do so by writing to:    
Richard Robinson, CEO
Scholastic, Inc.
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
(212) 343-6100
news@scholastic.com

We know that many of you have other concerns about Scholastic's role in promoting commercialism in schools.   We share these concerns, and, in the coming weeks, we'll be releasing a report on this issue.

But for today, let's celebrate Bratz-free schools and what we can accomplish when we work together to reclaim childhood from corporate marketers.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
www.commercialfreechildhood.org

Action Alert: Tell BusRadio to Stop Promoting 90210 to 6 Year-olds

I just received this alert from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:

BusRadio, which hopes to "take targeted student marketing to the next level" by forcing children to listen to its commercialized radio broadcasts on school buses, has sunk to a new low. The company is advertising the highly sexualized new television show 90210 on BusRadio.com, its website for children as young as six.  

Tell Bus Radio: Stop promoting 90210 to six-year-olds. 

BusRadio.com - the company's website for students that  is promoted throughout BusRadio's broadcasts on elementary, middle, and high buses - is urging children to tune in to tonight's premiere of 90210, a show that the CW Network calls a "sexier" and "more provocative" update on the popular series from the nineties. [1]  A trailer for the show on the BusRadio website teases several sex scenes, while a banner ad featuring the stars of the show in sexualized poses links to the show's website.[2] The show is exploiting preteens "currently smitten with Hannah Montana and the Jonas Bros" through merchandise such as backpacks, school supplies, and clothing. [3] Media reports also suggest the show will feature a significant amount of product placement.[4] 

BusRadio sells itself to school districts as an age-appropriate alternative to FM radio, but the company's definition of "age-appropriate" frequently differs from that of parents. Seminole County, Florida recently terminated their relationship with BusRadio when the company refused to stop playing songs from albums with parental warnings for explicit lyrics and content. Advertisers on BusRadio's elementary school broadcasts include the highly sexualized Bratz brand. Another elementary school advertiser, Answers.com, tells students to do their homework by looking up their answers on the Internet and mocks a student for carrying around books. BusRadio broadcasts encourage young students to visit its BusRadio.com website where inappropriate media, including Mature-rated video games and now 90120, are promoted. 

We believe no child should be held captive by BusRadio and we will continue to organize parents and educators around the country to keep advertising off of school buses. But we also think it is important to protect those students who are unfortunate enough to ride buses with BusRadio from this kind of sexualized advertising.  

Please visit http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/6914/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25409 to tell BusRadio to stop advertising 90210 to young children.

 

Thanks,

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
www.commercialfreechildhood.org

 

Support CCFC.  We rely on our members because we will not compromise our commitment to children by accepting corporate funding. Between now and September 5, donate $75 or more and receive a signed copy of Diane Levin's and Jean Kilbourne's So Sexy, So Soon.  To make a tax-free contribution, please visit https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/6725/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=3839

---

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU7EjzF1RJk.

[2] http://www.busradio.com/movies.

[3] http://commercialfreechildhood.org/news/2008/08/90210.htm.

[4] http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/08/16/freetime/doc48a0c098adc53549467084.txt.

Today Show Video: So Sexy So Soon

Here is a video clip from the Today Show interview with Diane Levin and Jean Kilbourne,  the authors of So Sexy So Soon:

New Book: So Sexy, So Soon

Written by Diane Levin and Jean Kilbourne:

In an age of wild girls and bad boys So Sexy, So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids (Ballantine Books; $25.00) is a powerful antidote to the media's stepped up assault on childhood and its effect on our kids' vulnerable psyches. Written by Diane Levin, Ph.D., and Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., internationally recognized experts on the impact of the media on children and teens, it is the first book that helps parents understand how sexualization affects children of all ages and genders and tells them what to do about it.

For children today, learning about sex too soon isn't the issue. The problem is the synthetic and cynical source of a child's information. Since children don't have the emotional sophistication and psychological development needed to understand what they are seeing, images on TV and in advertisements as well as toys and entertainment-linked figures like Bratz dolls and WWE wrestlers deeply influence how they feel about their bodies and their sexuality and how they think about gender and relationships. We are left with little girls wanting to go on diets so they can be "sexy," little boys getting suspended from school for sexual harassment, and parents in desperate need of guidance. Finally, there is help.

So Sexy, So Soon, an in-depth analysis of the media's effect on impressionable kids, gives parents the information, skills, and confidence they need to play a proactive role with their children around sexual issues. It includes poignant stories that demonstrate how our kids internalize what they see and hear, guidelines and sample conversations for talking with kids about these sensitive subjects, and offers practical strategies for counteracting the disturbing messages that bombard our children every day.

I recommend visiting the book's site- in addition to the usual book promotion stuff there is an entire page of tips that parents can use to protect their children.

Action Alert: Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act

I received this alert from NationalCoalition.org:

The verdict has been handed down—CBS will face no penalty after MTV thumbed its nose at parents during the 2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently threw out a $550,000 fine the Federal Communications Commission levied against CBS after Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” exposed her breast to over 90 million halftime viewers—many of whom were children.

“The last thing a parent expects to see when they sit down with their family to watch the Super Bowl is a strip tease,” said Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition. “The Super Bowl has long been a family event that is enjoyed by viewers of all ages. To feature a halftime show that includes nudity and lewd behavior is unconscionable.”

While the half a million complaints received by the FCC after the Super Bowl demonstrated viewers’ disgust, the Third Circuit opened the door to future indecent programming.

“Unfortunately, this ruling will likely set a precedent that will negatively affect the quality of future entertainment on broadcast television,” added Schatz. “Parents must be more vigilant than ever in monitoring the shows viewed in their household.”

Although this ruling is a disappointment, a legislative response is in motion. Senator Jay Rockefeller has introduced the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act (Senate Bill 1780), which would allow single words or images that are considered to be indecent, obscene, or profane to draw civil penalties.

To help pass this legislation, we ask you to do three things:

1. Contact Senator Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, and ask him to bring this legislation to the floor for a vote.

2. Contact Senator Jay Rockefeller, thank him for introducing the bill, and ask him to help move the bill forward.

3. Contact your two U.S. Senators and ask them to vote “YES” on Senate Bill 1780.

We thank you in advance for helping to protect the eyes of our children. There is still much to be done…but together we will make our voice heard!

Please take a few moments to contact Senators Reid and Rockefeller through the links above. You can find your Senators' email addresses here.

New "Filthy" Barbie

How many ways is this wrong?

Did Mattel really think this was a good idea?  Do they really have this little respect for children and parents?

From the Sun:

The doll’s image is transformed with kinky fishnets, motorcycle jacket, black gloves and boots.

Makers Mattel say Black Canary Barbie, out in September, is based on a DC comic superhero of the same name.

But religious group Christian Voice said: “Barbie has always been on the tarty side and this is taking it too far.

A children’s doll in sexually suggestive clothing is irresponsible – it’s filth.”

Yep.

Newsweek: Girls Gone Mild(er)

Newsweek has an article on what they are calling the new "modesty movement".  Here is an excerpt:

Consider the following style tips for girls: skirts and dresses should fall no more than four fingers above the knee. No tank tops without a sweater or jacket over them. Choose a bra that has a little padding to help disguise when you are cold. These fashion hints may sound like the prim mandates of a 1950s "health" film. But they are from the Web site of Pure Fashion, a modeling and etiquette program for teen girls whose goal is "to show the public it is possible to be cute, stylish and modest." Pure Fashion has put on 13 shows in 2007 featuring 600 models. National director Brenda Sharman estimates there will be 25 shows in 2008. It is not the only newfangled outlet for old-school ideas about how girls should dress: ModestApparelUSA.com, ModestByDesign.com and DressModestly.com all advocate a return to styles that leave almost everything to the imagination. They cater to what writer Wendy Shalit claims is a growing movement of "girls gone mild"—teens and young women who are rejecting promiscuous "bad girl" roles embodied by Britney Spears, Bratz Dolls and the nameless, shirtless thousands in "Girls Gone Wild" videos. Instead, these girls cover up, insist on enforced curfews on college campuses, bring their moms on their dates and pledge to stay virgins until married. And they spread the word: in Pennsylvania, a group of high-school girls "girlcotted" Abercrombie & Fitch for selling T shirts with suggestive slogans (WHO NEEDS BRAINS WHEN YOU HAVE THESE?). Newly launched Eliza magazine bills itself as a "modest fashion" magazine for the 17- to 34-year-old demographic. Macy's has begun carrying garments by Shade clothing, which was founded by two Mormon women wanting trendy, but not-revealing, clothes. And Miss Utah strode the runway of the 2007 Miss America pageant in a modestly cut one-piece swimsuit. (She didn't win the crown.) According to Shalit, whose new book "Girls Gone Mild" was published last month, this "youth-led rebellion" is a welcome corrective to our licentious, oversexed times. But is the new modesty truly a revolution, or is it merely an inevitable reaction to a culture of increased female sexual empowerment, similar to the backlash against flappers in the 1920s and second-wave feminists in the 1970s?

Shalit has made a career of cataloging the degradations of our culture while championing crusades of virtue. Her first book, "A Return to Modesty," argued that chastity was hot—and informed readers she intended to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Shalit says she was inundated with letters and e-mail from girls dismayed by cultural pressure to be "bad." She began a Web site, ModestyZone.net—there are at least a dozen similar ones today—and started collecting information from 3,000 e-mail exchanges between 1999 and 2006. "There's a dawning awareness that maybe not everyone participating in these behaviors is happy with them, so let's not assume everyone doing this is empowered," she says. She blames the usual suspects: media, misguided feminist professors, overly permissive parents. Sharman also points a finger at Moms Gone Wild. "It used to be that moms would control the way their daughters dressed. But now we have this 'Desperate Housewives' culture, and the moms are as influenced by the media as the kids," she says. "They've lost the sense of encouraging their daughters to be ladylike." Pure Fashion, which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic organization Regnum Christi, aims to "help young ladies make better choices," says Sharman.

Action Alert: A Free and Safe Wireless Internet Service

Last week I told you about the FCC's plans to auction off unused airwaves to create a free, nationwide wireless Internet service.  The auction has one stipulation: the winning company must provide filters to make the service porn-free.

The ACLU and "free-speech" activists want the FCC to remove the porn-free requirement claiming the porn-ban condition constitutes censorship.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families has established an online petition so that we can let the FCC know that Americans want the family-friendly requirement maintained.

Please take a moment to add your signature to this petition.