Alright, I tried to resist, but I can't help but weigh in with my two-cents worth on the JonBenet case so recently in the news again.
Does anyone remember the nation's collective reaction to the JonBenet case in 1996? The reason it stuck out in all of our minds is due to the plethora of blatantly sexual images portrayed by this child in the name of beauty pageants.
We all wondered what in the world the parents were thinking - and since then, the number of child beauty pageants (for both boys and girls!) has sky rocketed!
The world these days presents far too many chances for children's exposure to premature sexualization - as parents, I wonder why anyone would willingly go a step further and throw good money after bad to increase that exposure. Child predators must be having a hey-day with all of the readily available images!
Childhood is a time to nurture a child from the inside out. A firm sense of self cannot be taught by having the foundation of self being a tarted-up image on the outside. Looks pass away. Kindness taught survives the ages.