Adultifying young kids why are people doing it?!

[SurpriseOzzy]

I just need to stop following these friends who are letting their pre-teens wear body con dresses, acrylic nails, teensy bikinis, tonnes of make up, pouting and pulling backward V signs like it’s cool!!! Wtaf is wrong with people sexualising their young daughters and sticking it on insta? Do they not realise the perverted idiots out there who will be getting off on these pics!!

Just let kids be kids.

I say that as someone was sexually abused as a pre-teen!!!

That father sounds extremely weird.
I wouldn't be surprised if something more sinister was going on

@Crunchymum as you say most definitely external.

PS I’m not saying as such the issue is Crocs or the hoodies, my mistake there but it displays the reach of tik tok etc. yes I even as a teen wanted to be more grown up but it came later at more 14/15. Not at ages 9-12 not even 13. I also agree PPs have said there can be a balance. But I think we have to be mindful of the influences we can influence, like social media. I was born into a strict household so I know that’s not the best approach either, my OP really was for the worry I have regarding these young children seeking to act so much older than their years. It’s sad to see their parents ‘displaying’ them on social media too.

My daughter is five and loves makeup, hair, putting on cream on her face. She loves clothes and shoes and handbags.

Little girls have always loved it. Ok, I don't agree about social media at all, but makeup and hair and pampering...no issue with that.

I wore makeup and loved clothes and hair stuff from a young age (I'm 39 & my mum never wore makeup!) but I've turned out to be a relatively well rounded adult.

I remember loving makeup and nail polish as a child. You’d get free bits in mix/shout and I had a wee collection in a box I got from Sabrinas secrets magazine 😭

I don’t see anything wrong with letting kids wear what they want, but I hate seeing parents post pictures of their children online as they can’t consent. Having their own accounts is difficult as it’s become so normalised, but I wouldn’t want my children to be posting pictures on social media. I’m sure I’d have made loads of cringeworthy ‘content’ if TikTok/Instagram had been a thing when I was young. Thankfully MySpace and Bebo are a thing of the past and no one can see my teenage nonsense anymore!

I think for millions of kids worldwide childhood hasn't happened.No magic, no fairytales, no age appropriate fun.

@Lwrenn children in the West have more of a childhood than any previous time in history.

For most of history kids worked once they got to about 9 or 10. And the rich ones that didn’t were expected to be ‘mini adults’ not seen nor heard. Then we had a couple of pesky world wars that ruined a lot of the ‘childhood magic.’ I’m not sure when this golden time you’re referring to was?

pulling backward V signs like it’s cool

I agree with a lot of what you wrote OP, but I have a 9 year old who does backward V signs in photos and I had no idea this was something I was supposed to worry about. It’s not a particularly ‘sexy’ pose, is it? For what it’s worth she has no phone, no social media and no interest in skincare, although she is starting to show some interest in clothes and does enjoy makeup (at home only).

What is the V sign supposed to signify?

All we can do as parents is guide and protect as much as possible,

@weebarra i think that exactly what the OP would like to see. Parents protecting their children.

Crop tops were popular in the 80s and 90s, they’re not new

It’s a peace sign isn’t it?! ✌🏻

@BaddestChickenInTheCoop Didn’t you ever wear Heather Shimmer lipstick?! (If a 90s kid 😂

Yes I did, but it was cheap & I was older!

@PerkyMintDeer It’s crazy, I had a pretty privileged upbringing but had a strict budget. My dc are pretty lucky too but I won’t be able to pay for uni & house deposits & branded stuff. Plus I’m not going without so

Well that's actually my point. The purpose of this thread is what? Pointless and impotent ranting - and the OP still follows these people and says nothing but it's so, so important to rant. Cowardice is what it is.

Have the courage of your convictions.

The purpose of this thread is what? Pointless and impotent ranting -

Isnt that the purpose of most threads here? 😆😆

Fair point, Nanana1

I'm not talking about children in work houses or chimney sweeps.
I'm talking about the children of modern day times who's parents have a plethora of free activities to do with their kids, who's instead of doing something age appropriate like go the swings or feed the ducks, take a walk around an art gallery etc instead just let little ones upload adult tiktoks or hang around streets like teenagers when they're small.

No point worrying about what happened to previous generations now, all we can do is learn from them and treat children appropriately now.

Crocs are the most age appropriate footwear I can think of for a pre teen? They are designed to have cartoony childish charms on them?

And if you want to buy your kid designer, surely a White Fox hoody is one of the most innocuous purchases? I’d be happy if all ten year olds were in white fox hoodies and crocs… I’m not sure I see the problem here?

(And I don’t have children, nor do I buy for children so no skin in the game for me to be offended by this comment!).

But this has always been the case. I remember girls in my primary school and in yr7 being into boys and being allowed to hang round the shops, when I was still secretly playing barbies and just wanted to be better than the boys at everything. I think it's probably more visible, but there have always been kids more 'adult' than others.

Interestingly, despite my efforts (including duck feeding, art galleries and big walks), dd was never really a kid who played, read or even gamed. Her sibling did, but she was more about organising things. Finding makeup and fashion has given her an interest that makes her happy. She buys cheap, because she has limited funds. She's also very into a subtle look, so she can get away with it in school. She may end up working in beauty; she may be an immaculately turned out scientist or engineer. At the minute, she's just trying to navigate fitting in at high school- and doing a better job than I did.

f see another kid in a white fox jumper and crocs I’ll have to say something although i do have some very old crocs

In the 90s we had different groups so the indie kids had their own look, the ravers another etc. now they literally all look identical. I remember getting annoyed when a friend bought the same trainers as me now you see 10 teens in the exact same trainer/colour way. Every single teenager boys has that wavy/curly front bit hairstyle at the moment.

I loved clothes/fashion from an early age, played with Barbie/dress up etc & ended up in the fashion industry but I never dressed older than my age or anything like that.

‘In my day….’ X 1000

things move on. Adults have been criticising teenagers since they became a thing

It's just the peace sign. Loads of kids do it, boys and girls. And adults too. There's nothing wrong with it whatsoever. It's just an excuse for KIDS NOWADAYS ranting.

The bit that does get me is that there is no room for individuality. When I was at school there were loads of different 'tribes'.
DD is my youngest and parenting a girl is definitely different to parenting her brothers, although DS1 did stop wearing all his Scandi clothes - you do clearly have to blend in or you get slagged off.

Same here.
Some of the “cool girls” on the netball team are actually the instigators of this behaviour too.
My daughter wants all of this because her friends do, and it happened overnight after starting secondary school.
She would happily still be playing barbie at 12 without outside influence but unfortunately it is what they are surrounded by.
We can't / wont control friendship groups and I am not prepared to have her isolated by not having what is “cool” within reason.
She will with guidance find her own way and personality again, but being an early teen is so tough.
P.S You missed Stanleys, Nike pros, Sol de Janiero and Longchamp bags, or are some of those trends ok?! 😂

To be fair I was at secondary school 20ish years ago and the way we did makeup as young teens was way worse! Copious amounts of orange dream matte mousse, foundation lips, spider lashes and silly eyebrows. My teenage nieces love makeup but it always looks immaculate and a lot classier.

👏👏👏

I came across a Facebook reel the other day where a mother was filming and giving a commentary on her daughters ( I think they were 11 and 14) beauty regimes, showing their outfits etc. I know some teens might do this themselves but I thought it was a bit much the mother doing it.