The Sexualization of Early Childhood

As an early childhood educator, I am exposed to some many different things; some good, some bad, and some disturbing. Sexualization in early childhood education is becoming more and more prevalent. I am always amazed and how much children are exposed to at an early age when it comes to sexuality and the over exposure of gender identity when sexuality is concerned.  Now, it seems to be a norm, which is sad to say, but with the TV, Internet, advertisements, and radio, children are going to be exposed to sexualization at a young age regardless.

When watching television, you see children doing things that adults should be engaged in. for example, the toddlers in tiaras show is about pushing little girls to parade around like a woman with big hair, make up, and to exude sexiness to be in a pageant for people to judge them on their beauty. Children at this age should be being children and not worried about how they look, and how society perceives their looks. Girls have a lot of pressure from media and the Internet to look and be a certain way, why start this at such a young age?

As a teacher, I do see children who are exposed to sexualization in different ways. For instance, girls come in in dresses and heels with make-up on, and I have had little boys come in with cologne on and are allowed to ‘shave’ which I found very alarming. Children already have gender roles in their head at the age of 2.5-3, which is the age I primarily teach. They believe girls have to be thin, with long hair, heels, dresses and makeup, while boys believe they have to be strong, no crying and to ‘man up’ and where manly or boy colors. Children should be allowed to wear colors that make them happy, and to understand that at any gender, you can do anything; the sexes should be presented to children at a young age as equals and not greater than or lesser.

Children want to be the stars and actors/actresses they see on television as well as in animated movies. I had a little girl, who was listening to kids bop, and the song she was listening to had adult content, but children were singing it, and she knew every word. Also, the way she danced was that of an adult. She was moving her body in a provocative way. It is so hard to try to intervene to let children know what is and what isn’t appropriate, but once they leave and go home, or are around peers in another setting, things will change and the children will pick up on things that are overly sexualized.

The implications this may have on a child’s healthy development is that they can grow up with a warped sense of self image and this could lead to low self-esteem, low self efficacy, as well as depression.  It is important as an educator to always allow for children to see the positive side of being who they are and positive outcomes of genders. I want girls to feel empowered to be and do whatever they want regardless of how they look, and for boys to feel empowered to do the same and to feel emotions without the negative stigma that comes with it. Having books and different literature, as well as videos and images of positive behaviors and self image will help children to ask questions, but also to gain an understanding of the world around them in positive ways that foster healthy development.

My awareness has been modified by this week’s topic is by always keeping a close eye on how children interpret the world around them. Also, I want to be able to always bring in positive images of men, women, and the LGBT communities that allow for children to see social roles as positive and to allow for acceptance, tolerance, respect, and understanding. Children are curious, and we have to make sure we are explaining these curiosities in the most positive way as possible.