Does any one else have a problem....
 

Okay, I have been going to some events lately that are open to people of all ages, particularly church picnics. I keep seeing these girls that are around 13-15 wearing clothing that I would not wear to a club even! They are around their parents, are obviously not old enough to even drive and walk around with the shortest shorts, tightest tops and clothing that shows more than they have.
They haven't even gone through puberty and yet they make me think of the Jenny Jones show.
Now, here is my problem. WHY WOULD THEIR MOTHERS/FATHERS let them out of the house like that? Take off half the makeup, put some CLOTHES on for the love of all that is holy. They are at a CHURCH picnic and they look like they should be working street corners.
Does anyone else see this? Have a problem with it? I mean does Britney Spears really influence these young kids that much!!? I am in utter horror. If my daughter was thirteen and wearing the push up bras and low cut tops with skirts like these girls I would burn them and put her in a burlap sack!

Okay, I feel better. just wondered if anyone else has been wondering about future generations?

My friends and I were just talking about this yesterday. We went to Summerfest, which is a huge festival in Milwaukee, and all of us were in tank tops and shorts, no big deal.

We're sitting drinking our beers when two girls that could have been no older than 13 walked by in SHORT shorts and matching handkerchief tops.

We were talking amongst ourselves about how could their parents let them out of the house like that, etc. and one of them must have overheard us....

The little brat came over to us and said "You're just jealous because you couldn't pull it off" :eek: :eek: :eek: Saucy little thing! I certainly don't think we were dressed the way we were because we "can't pull it off" (one of us is a model, and the rest of us aren't too bad looking, if I may say so) - we just choose to be dressed when we leave the house....

I couldn't believe the little brat said that to us....

and THAT, my dears, is what happens when kids are raised by TV and the Internet rather than their parents.

Don't get me wrong, I like TV quite a bit. Being in public service, though, I have seen firsthand the effects of parents not watching their children, raising them, teaching them to respect themselves, etc. The only voice these kids know is what's on the WB and MTV, and you KNOW how much of that is real-life :rolleyes:

Lots of teenagers are really great people, I've had the pleasure of meeting them. In the end, though, the truth is that there's a lot of peer pressure to be like what's on MTV and in magazines, and they may not understand the fine differences between real life and TV if no one is there to raise them properly.

I am glad someone brought this up! I am so sick of seeing these little girls in their tight jeans/shorts and tiny tops. Even in the winter this is what these girls wear! And their parents think it is cute, at least the parents that live in my town do. There is a point where it is cute., and then there is a point where it is out of control. What you are talking about is definitely out of control. Yesterday I was in Meijer and walking through the kids section adn they had these bikinis that were skimpy! They were all glittery too. I am not out of college yet, let alone have a kid but I know I would never ever let my nieces/ own daughters wear something like that ever.

Ok, I know does not make much sense, but it made me want to respond.....

Have you all walked through the children's department lately? The last time I was looking through there for my cousins, I noticed that just about all off the shorts are really short. I think the clothing industry just tries to keep up with the latest fashion trends on TV like KappaStarGirl mentioned. I remember when I was younger most of the shorts in the girls department were a just a little higher than knee length. I can't even remember seeing halter tops and stuff that some little girls wear today. Can we really fault the parents if that is the majority of the clothing available. Some older generation parents take the attitude of "oh that is the style now, so it must be ok"

You can still see what I call "classic" children's clothes, such as those cute little smocked dresses, in retailers catering to a certain subset of the upper class. These type of stores advertise in say, Town & Country.

I like the classic look on kids. And if I get married and am blessed with a girlchild, she will not be wearing any midriff-baring tops [I've seen some pre-teens w/jiggly stomachs that look!:eek:] or booty shorts until maybe, she's a teenager.

Hopefully, she'll understand that a classic look always is polished.

Oh, yes, I agree! Little kids should not be dressed like ladies of the evening...neither should preteens, for that matter. If I had tried to wear some of the stuff they wear now, my mom would have jerked a knot in my tail! And she would have been right to do so.

My mom would never have let me out of the house if I tried to wear some of the stuff that preteens wear today. And what I love, is the 5 pounds of make-up they wear, trying to look older. I'm like-kid, you're 12, just enjoy it-worry about getting all made up in about 4 more years.

This post is so appropriate because this just happened to me last week.

Last week, my brother and his wife went on their annual trip to Las Vegas. That meant my nieces (ages 16, 12, and 9) were staying with my mom and me. LeslieAnne, the 12 year old, decides to take advantage of her parents being away and dress like a tramp.

She asked me if I didn't mind dropping her off at the mall. I said fine. Later that afternoon, she walked down the stairs DRESSED IN A HALTER TOP THAT SHOWED OFF HER MIDSECTION AND A MINI-SKIRT. :eek: The little tramp then had the nerve to ask me if she could borrow my "CFM" boots. For those who don't know what CFM stands for, PM me. ;)

My eyeballs must've popped out of my sockets at least three times before I could say anything. AND THE GIRL WAS DRESSED THIS WAY TO GO TO THE MALL! I told her that there was NWIH I was taking her to the mall dressed that way. If she wanted a ride, she was going to have to change her clothes. If she didn't, she was catching the bus. I also told her to take off the 5 gallons of makeup on her face because she looked like she was about to work a corner.

She then tried to gain sympathy from my mom using her little pathetic whiny voice: "But Grandmaaaaa...Auntie Sandy gets to go out looking like this!" I lost my cool:

"I'M TWENTY-F*#$*^ing-TWO YEARS OLD...YOU'RE ONLY TWELVE, DAMMIT!"

After repeated threats of how I was going to call her parents, she finally gave in but I still had to check her backpack to make sure she wasn't going to be bringing those clothes along to change in the mall bathroom later.

My mom and I were talking about this yesterday, and a lot of things make sense now. I remember my mom worrying about me when I'd go out at night especially right after I got my driver's license. I see myself worrying about my nieces now because I honestly believe that they're growing up in a tough world where fitting in seems to be the most important. Innocent girls are kidnapped right out of the comforts of their own homes... and I cannot fathom what I would do if anything like that would happen to my nieces.

I just wish they weren't growing up so fast. :(

YES YES YES!!

Often i wonder how parents let their children out of the house dressed/looking the way they do..kids these days, i swear..

A couple of weeks ago my friends & i were going to the bars in downtown albuquerque..well one of the bars we were going to is right next to this restaraunt where on this particular evening there were two girls, who could not have been older than 15 or 16..seriously looking like prostitutes..short shorts w/their butts hangin out, little tiny tank tops.i've seen prostitutes out lookin for dates in less revealing clothing..first of all, it was like 11:00..isn't that past curfew or something? BUT THEN what could have been the most disturbing part of it all..was the (at least) 30 year old inebriated men that walked by and tried to ask the girls out..

..kids these days, i swear..

Geez....when I was thirteen, I had to have MY DAD along when I went shopping for a bathing suit. I was 15 before I was allowed to have a real bikini. Hahah...I could just see me walking out of the house with a shirt that said "Tease" in glitter.

And what about those "You don't have to have sex to be sexy" shirts? HAHAHAHAHA....I'm sure those are going to be all the rage in the high/middle schools. Along with their raging blue eyeshadow and body glitter....

I was just commenting on this today. Mom and I were in SunCom to pay the cell bill and this girl, probably about 12 or 13 walks in with her mom. The girl is wearing a short sleeved tshirt that kinda loks like a baseball jersey. And in pink glitter is written "Playboy" and the bunny logo is beneath it. What mother lets her child dress like that?!? :eek: :eek:

I always joke that I'm not going to be let into the movies around here because I wear too many clothes - I don't ever have my stomach showing or wear ass shorts. I just odn't understand how these mothers allow this. What the hell are they thinking? Is it that they wish they were skinny and cute again and live vicariously through their daughters? (I've noticed that there is a direct correlation between how trampy the kid is dressed and how out of shape the mother is).

eh. ick. eww. i work with girls that are in state's custody. and 90% of the time, when we get a new girl in, she's dressed like a little street walker. i understand having "club clothes" but DAMN - not at 2 in the afternoon people. it's just not right. not only should these parents not be letting their kids walk around like this - but how does a pre-teen get the $ for clothes like these. there just something wrong with a parent buying clothes like that for a pre-teen. eh.

marissa

OMG! I sooo understand! I work in a dpt store, and all the kids clothes are like mini versions of the JRs clothes.. I would NOT have been allowed out looking like that!!! Kids are growing up too quick! Hell, I played with dolls til 8th grade!!! And little kids having sex at younger and younger ages...
UGH!

Dont get me started on kids "sexy" clothing!!! It should be illegal!


And... dont get me started on 13 year olds with CELL PHONES glued to their ear! Maybe its cos we didnt have them as children, but I see them as a more grown up accessory- but if you have to call in and check up with mom, or use in an emergency... but walking around the mall with one on your ear? At any age is rude and dumb.

I'm amazed every time I go to the mall... Kids wearing stuff I wish my girlfiend would wear!:p

Seriously though... if you've walked through the mall and seen the selection they have... that's just what's available.

Hell.. A&F has thong undies for lil girls!

It's just not right. There's no way my parents would have let me wear outfits like that at age 13 or 14, and no way any daughter of mine will be allowed to dress like that. Leave *something* to the imagination, kids.

Parents so desperately want to be "cool" that they let their kids wear anything they want...the kids are playing the parents and are way more intelligent. It's scary really.

oh Ali, I remember when I was in high school, there was a 7th grader with a "bun in the oven"!! :eek:

My mom would have a cow just from the bra straps hanging out under the spaghetti strap tops. Let alone a shirt that says "tease" or something of the like. We used to tuck up our t-shirts to show off our midriffs when we were pretending to be Cher or something, but we sure as heck would never have been permitted to go to school or the mall like that. Kids don't have time to play and pretend anymore...that's the problem... so they are doing these things in real life instead.

Ok what age group are we talking about here? Some of you are mentioning 13-15 years old and others are talking about pre-teens, that is a wide range of difference.

Also, some of you may have forgotten what its like to be younger.

Some points:

Once you hit Menarche you are a women. A not very experienced woman but a woman. In many cultures you are of mariageable age. In fact not too long ago in the states, that was the age you could get married and in some states you can still get married very young with parental consent.

PRe-adolescents and adolescents are sexual creatures, if they are feeling good about the way they look they like to be on display. In fact it may not be what they are wearing that you are responding to it may be their attitude and body language. I find that a lot of younger girls, and I would say right up to 19-20 are a lot less self conscious about what they are wearing and being checked out.

Also, every generation probably going back to the beginning of time has wondered what youth was thinking and questioning their form of dress and conduct.

I was just talking about this with someone the other day. We were at this big Fourth of July thing, people watching. There were so many little girls flashing skin, tons of makeup. I saw one girl, who couldn't have been more than 10 or 12, with short shorts, a tight little v-neck sleeveless top, makeup, glitter, talking on a CELL PHONE!!! The things these girls wear I still wouldn't wear in public and I'm 24 years old. My parents never would have let me out of my bedroom, let alone in public, dressed like that.

I agree there is a difference, but 13-15 year olds are still too young to be showing the world everything they have! Leave a little something to the imagination, please.

I saw it again tonight. I was in Barnes and Noble, about 9:30 PM and there was a family in there - Mom, Dad and little girl. The girl was about 7 or 8. She had on low rise jeans and a halter top that showed about 4 or 5 inches of her stomach. And apparently mom and dad were just fine with it.

:mad: :rolleyes: :confused: :eek:

Maybe the same feeling happened about 50 years ago ... when our grandparents saw the next generation, which were our parents, and us.
Didn't women always wear everything covered up? Not even pants, maybe?

Or how about our grandparents see young women with sport bras? Or mini skirts? Or bikinis?

Things have changed. :) I feel old now, thank you very much. :D

I think there's a difference between letting kids have their own sense of style that is different from when we grew up and letting little girls dress like tramps. And I'm sorry, but they do look like tramps. I have honestly seen girls abound 13-14 years old wearing clothes that are worse than what I've seen slutty-looking women wear to clubs...and that says a lot.

Maybe people will jump on me for this but, IMHO, if you're under 16 you really have no reason to be dressing like a sex kitten...you're in high school for christ sakes! And, if you're under 14, it's gross and down right inappropriate.

Ktsnake said that that's just the stores' selection these days...Is it easier to find skimpy clothes than "regular" clothes? Possibly. Does that make it right? No. Until they're 15/16, it's unlikely that they have jobs so mom/dad are paying for the clothes...maybe they should do a better job of monitoring what their kids are wearing. There so many fun styles out there that kids don't need to show skin in order to dress "cool."

Ok just for the sake of intellegent argument: What exactly makes this gross? And as a seperate question, what makes this wrong? As in a moral imperative.

Totally agree with this. Hell I hate putting on make-up now. But I would have to say that James has some kind of point with his post. I think that girls see this on adults and want to be like them, but still it is wrong. I jsut dont agree with it. Also someone else said something about playing with dolls till they were in 8th grade.....I did too but I also remember the kind of stories I was making up with those dolls! And they were not very innocent. (I am talking about Barbies!!!) SO James does have a point....pre-teens are sexual creatures, but maybe they need to act like kids a little bit longer for some peoples sake!

I think it's gross because older guys want to get in these little girls' pants. That's what I think is wrong with it. And we wonder why the amount of pedophiles has increased.

Interesting observation about trampy kids and out-of-shape mamas. My mother is 5'1" and weighed, at the most, 115 pounds. I was thin as a child, but I would have never dreamed of wearing trampy clothes. I had enough of a time being teased.

Okay, here is my argument for James sake:

When a girl is preteen or younger they are curious about women's bodies. Not men yet, but women. They wonder when they will develop and what it will be like and stuff. Not much younger than 10, I would think. That is about the age some girls start wearing things like "Training bras" (btw what are you training them for?) Anyway, some of these girls are now wearing clothing that is more revealing, more sexually suggestive and it takes away their innocense. They are no longer little girls, which they really are, they are girls trying to be something they aren't yet.
These girls haven't had their first periods yet and they are walking around looking like they are on the prowl for some A$$!
I know a girl that is 11, she had on a pair of low slung sweatpants with "Tease" written on the butt in glitter. She had a tank top going down almost to wear her breasts will be someday, and shows with high high heels on. Her hair had dark roots and was bleached blonde and she had enough makeup on to make Tammy Faye Baker look clean. How in the world can anyone say that this is okay? The girl is ELEVEN!! She looked like she was one of the two trailer park girls running outside of the Eminem song!
Okay, now for teen aged girls.
Guys want sex from the time they are 14 on, no matter what a girl is wearing, but the more revealing her clothing the "easier" they think she is. It is a social stigma attached to clothing. The more it shows, the more likely she is to be morally casual. Which is not a decision any teenager should legally be able to make since their hormones want nothing more than to bang. Let's face it from the time you are 14 until, well, just about forever, you think about one thing more often than anything else, SEX. And that is what this clothing is about.
These girls do not have enough self esteem to say "I can be sexy without showing my body off".
At 22, which is where I am now, I think a suit can be just as sexy as a halter (which I never wear). I have my clothes for clubbing, but that is for a time and a place.
These teen girls do not realize that there is a time and a place for it because their hormones think everytime is time and everyplace is the right place. If they could think straight they would realize the older men hitting on them are dirty and really don't want anything but to humiliate them and the young guys paying them attention want the rest of the clothes removed.

Guys, do not have this problem. Khakis and button downs from age newborn to 100, it always works.

Anyway, that is just my rebuttle to James comments, or his being devils advocate which I appreciate.
Oh, and as for the clothes, last I checked they still sell shorts for every age that cover your butt and shirts that cover your stomach, if necessary, there is always a larger size.

SORT OF RELATED...
 

I have only seen this in San Antonio, but when the kids are middle school or high school aged, the parents get stickers (cut out vinyl) usually in white with the aschool, activity (Cheerleading, band, swimming) and the kids name, and the sticker is put on the back window or something.

GOD this gets on my god damned last nerve. (WHY is it always on a minivan. Why dont you just get stickers that say trite walmart trash). A coupel of observations about this peculiar practice...

1) Yeah, ya got kids. Youre proud. Find me a parent who isnt.

2) Are you mad??? We live (in SA anyway) a town of 1.5 million chock full of loons. WHY would you advertise your kids names publically for any child molestor to see???? All thed have to do is follow you around, see what the kids look like, knock you off, then show up to soccer practice and see your kid and holler over to "Johnny, your mom and dad wanted me to pick you up." Obviously the kids gonna think its ok, after all, "he knew my name."

Just irks me that parents think they are being cute about something, and its really dangerous.... and could get a kid hurt.

I will choose stores for my children to shop at, but in order to allow them to excercise some free will, they will pick out their own clothes. So my daughter may choose the khaki skirt from JCrew kids or the cotton polo dress from Ralph Lauren. The sons can choose from Crew kids, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Bahama, etc. :)

Lord, I still can't bring myself to wear spaghetti straps or skirts above the knee. I admit that I am rather conservative and have terribly preppy tendencies.

Conservative is good. And these kind of clothes look Oh so cute on kids! Shop at the Childrens Place or Gap kids has cute clothes. My kids are going to be preppy too because it is the way I dressed when I was little and I still do a little bit now....when I have the money to buy something preppy.

I dont know about the rest of you, but when I was a little kid I was embarrassed to expose anything, even wearing a two piece suit. I always had shorts at a descent lenght and tops that were not revealing at all. And funny that someone mentioned this
You can still see what I call "classic" children's clothes, such as those cute little smocked dresses, in retailers catering to a certain subset of the upper class. These type of stores advertise in say, Town & Country.
When I was little I modeled once for Town & Country magazine and I had to wear nice looking clothes, not trashy stuff that I wont even wear now. Parents need to learn to handle their kids better and check what they're wearing before they leave the house. And the designers need to stop making these slutty clothes for children. Just a thought.

OK, a lot of these clothes do bug me, but I didn't go around swaddled head to toe as a kid either! I had halter and tank tops as a 7-year-old. It gets hot in the summer, and you're running around playing ... what are you supposed to wear? That said, I don't think there was anything sexy about them. They exposed my shoulders, yeah, but they weren't glittery or silky, they didn't say "slut" on them.

That's what bugs me the most - the messages some of these shirts have. You see preteens and teens in shirts that say "tramp" or "flirt" or "kiss me..." Just because a girl is starting to discover her sexuality doesn't mean it's all out there! Once you hit puberty, it's not like BOOM you're suddenly an adult with a lot of sexual maturity. You're just interested in sexuality, and I for one think there's a lot of steps to go through toward the process of becoming a full sexual adult being.

My SO's daughter (she's 13) has a shirt that says "Playgirl University" with the bunny and the number 69. I HATE that shirt and would love to burn it. Does she even know what 69 is? (For the record, her dad did not buy it for her, but he doesn't really police what she wears ... he seems to think clothes don't matter. Of course, this is the same guy who doesn't want her to repeat his mistake and have kids at 18 ... and he lets her be in training to be a playgirl?) There's not much I can do as just "the girlfriend" though. Grr, sorry about that rant.

Do we have a cite on "the number of pedophiles is rising"? That would be an interesting study to look at, with regard to the topic at hand.

Also - what's the causative link between 'showing skin' and being 'morallyl casual'?

The way I see it - kids want to fit in, and group interaction goes a long way toward helping create self-image for many kids. I can see how the need to fit in can lead to sex being mistaken for a popularity tool - that makes perfect sense. However, I see a fine line between this theory and keeping your children from dressing in the 'style of the times' - if clothing can indeed make a child feel like an outsider, couldn't this sort of 'clothes policing' lead to a child looking for other ways to 'fit in' . . . ?

Well, I know that most of my male friends link a woman (of a mature age knowing right from wrong and in control of her sexuality for the most part) who is wearing, shall we say skimpy clothing with being easy. I am not saying it is right, but I think a lot of society feels this way. I admit a lot of times I see girls at clubs wearing clothing that is way too much for the clubs here, and I think that if I were a guy they would be an easy catch for the evening.
But morally casual just means a person (male or female) that is not particular about those they have relations with.

I have something new to post to this. I have recently started working at a department store in the childrens department. I was looking trhough the racks the other day just trying to get an idea of the merchandise and also trying to get ideas for my nieces 6th birthday. I kind of am thinking matching outfits for her and me....lol. Well anyways, I saw this skirt that was hot pink with a chain belt on it. It kind of made me sick because it was in teh little girls section (4-6X). It was so trashy looking. I know I dind have clothes like that wehn I was little, but that was for dress up. It was just really really disturbing. Also in the training video we have to watch it talks about how the girls want to look like their big sisters so that is why they carry these brands and stuff. Well that is my rant for the day!