As we knew it in the past, now comes the end of innocence. Children can no longer be children. In fact, it is unacceptable to remain in those blissful years being, playing, dancing and having fun as children did for hundreds of years. Living for the most part with freedom from the pressure, guilt and anxiety that can come from the roles we play as adults.

Development – as our preoccupation for being better at everything exploded, so did our need to speed up the process of childhood. Babies development encouraged by new and improved “scientific” studies that lead us towards wanting super infants – educational marvels whose parents line up for their Einstein tools and mini-college enrollment.

Play – for many children is structured too but it comes with confusing and often opposing expectations. In one camp is the parents (and so called experts) pontificating “everyone is a winner” but in the other camp is the screaming competitive sideline coaches. Play has been redefined with a more adult take on its relevance.  “To just  have fun or just be the best?” … that is the question.

Fun - all on its own has been transformed from interacting with family and friends through indoor/outdoor games, to participating in the dark room with self and a screen. On that screen children can be exposed to many sides of life and make believe that have real adult themes but lack any responsibility to determine whether the fun is healthy, pacifying or just plain inappropriate for their age.

If we talk about the girl child, look out! Checking out toys and characters such as Bratz one would think our little girls are now just miniature women. Words to describe their Dolls “Flirty” “Glamorous” “Feminine” one character is also thankfully “not pretentious.”

“Mommy what does pretentious mean?”

Clothing and accessories – the available clothing, the makeup, polished nails and dyed hair have changed any reason to look forward to growing up. To hit milestones in terms of age, responsibility let alone understanding. In its worst form clothing demonstrates the hyper-sexualization of our children and teens.

You don’t have to look far to find the images and stories that prove innocence lost. There was one American retail company I was going to feature as an example; after viewing the slide show images they use of children/young girls I decided I couldn’t give them yet another forum in which to highlight their exploitation. (if you want the link email me directly)

Wrapped in misrepresented words such as “empowerment” or “freedom”, laced in “it’s cute” “work it” or “show it off”, embraced by a pornified culture comes the undoing of childhood.

What are we doing? Why are we taking away their right to have fun without adult influence? Why are we giving them so much to see and think about without the context? Why do we enjoy partnering with our children and teens in a way that does not define the differences between adult/child relationships and development? Why do we believe they are capable of doing many things so early in life but then step in to protect them when it results in a wrong decision that causes them harm or costs society? Why are we unable to see that these mini adults will not be any better prepared for adulthood? Why did we need to take away what was positive about innocence?

Dance – if there was ever a moment when I felt sickened by our move towards taking our little ones too far into adulthood it was with the following video. The debate opened up early regarding this; anger on one side, sadness for others and as you can see with some of the comments people who support it. Talent aside – given the song lyrics, costuming and moves I had to remind myself they are only 7 YEARS OLD! It is no surprise that some adults are viewing our young as prey, as we package them up for display and sell them in our online, public and retail markets.

7 year old girls dancing to Single Ladies