The Sexualization of Early Childhood

"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, 2009). Today children are exposed to so much sex it is ridiculous. From the shows they watch, to the songs they sing, to the friends they hang with. Children are constantly put in a position where they are exposed to sexy dance moves, kissing, hugging and sex. If they choose not to participate they are talked about by thier friends and treated bad. Some are ostracized and made to feel worthless. As a teenage, my mom did not let me date or watch the kind of shows that are on now, but I cannot keep my kids from being exposed when it is constantly all around them. I have tried to watch some of these shows and to tell you to truth i can't believe what I see. Kids as young as nine and ten are dressed or should I say half dressed and moving in a way that make me blush and leave the room. The things they are doing should be kept to the privacy of a bedroom and the moves should not be done by a child their age and they should not even know anything about them.

 These stats about teen pregnancy are amazing:

  Despite declines in rates of teen pregnancy in the U.S., about 820,000 teens become pregnant each   year. That means that 34 percent of teenagers have at least one pregnancy before they turn 20. 

• 79 percent of teenagers who become pregnant are unmarried. 
• Utah's teen pregnancy rate is high, as well as Southern teen pregnancy but these are areas where women still get married prior to the age of 20 with some regularity (although this is changing). 
• 80 percent of teenage pregnancies are unintended. 
• Nearly four in ten teenage girls whose first intercourse experience happened at 13 or 14 report that the sex was unwanted or involuntary. 
• The main rise in the teen pregnancy rate is among girls younger than 15* 
• Close to 25 percent of teen mothers have a second child within two years of the first birth.*  

Children should be able to enjoy their lives and teenage years and not have to care for a child when they are just a child themselves. My hope is that my children be as careful as possible and try to make the right decison amid all the peer pressure and media exposure.


Reference

 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

Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Pregnancy   

retrieved on October 12, 2014 from

www.teenhelp.com/teen-pregnancy/teen-pregnancy-statistics.html