"Tyra Banks Show"

Today, I caught the Tyra Banks Show (tyrashow.com). I've seen this show a few times and I enjoy it. Today it was very scarey. The theme today was, "Kids Growing Up Too Quickly" and showed how children are being pressured to act and dress sexy.

The media tends to target little girls. Tyra found these stories on magazines geared toward children, "Get Hot Abs, Legs & Butt", "Lucious Lip Tips", and "Kissing Tricks". At one point, Tyra held up a black, mesh thong with the words, "Bite Me" right above the red strawberries printed across the front. This thong is for children ages 12 and under.

Tyra then set up a kids' fashion boutique to observe how average little girls go about choosing their wardrobe. An 8-year old admitted she wanted to dress like pop star Christina Aguilera and a 4 year old smiled in confusion as she tried to explain her shirt's logs, "Single & Fabulous". Both acknowledged that girls dress sexy to get the boys to like them and that sexy equals showing your body.

There was a 13 year old whose mother was worried about the clothes and attitude of her daughter. The 13 year old admitted she dressed slutty and posed for pictures in a very sexy way. She admitted she dressed that way to get the boys to look at her and that she liked it.

There was also a discussion with a father who, when he's with his son and without his wife and two daughters, openly ogles the girls and whistles at them. His son who's about 11 or 12 liked a particular video game because it had prostitutes and he was able to walk around and slap women.

I just wonder what's the matter with these parents. Why should a four year old wear a shirt that says, "Single & Fabulous"? Who pays for the clothes for a 13 year old. Who monitors their TV? Who says "NO"? Parents should be parents. After seeing this show and the clothes in some of the stores, it's no wonder there are so many children having babies.

I'm not saying girls should play with dolls until they're teenagers, or that they should not want to be attractive, but first, they should be children. Leave the sexy clothes and attitudes until they are older and really know what they're doing.