Reading the article “Teens before their Time”, I made a lot of connections to what is going on today. They mention how girls are looking older than they actually are. I think it really comes to parenting and what you let your kids do. Girls now are coming into high school with long straight hair, tan skin, white teeth, and are dieting. These are freshman, 14 and 15 year olds that look like they’re in college. Well obviously the senior boys are going after them and giving them all the attention, other girls see this and strive to fit in or are depressed because they can’t fit into that mold.
It sounds silly but parents need to watch how much time their kids are spending on their appearance. And girls should absolutely not be in a tanning bed and whitening their teeth at the age of 15. After letting them wear tight jeans they’re going to be wearing short shorts, low cut shirts, lots of makeup ect, and it’s just not necessary at that age. Obviously as they grow up and mature they can start making their own decisions about what they wear and how they look but as a parent it’s your job to guide them in the right direction and teach them to have respect for themselves.
Another problem is that when guys are seeing younger girls that look older they are making advances on them and getting asked out by a senior guy as a freshman girl is pretty much the best thing that could happen. They aren’t thinking period let alone thinking about making the right decisions. I think this is a cause of a high teen pregnancy rate and girls are being exposed to STD’s. It’s a vicious cycle and I think the only way to break it is to educate girls and discipline them to know that it’s okay to look like you’re 15 and that there is a lot more to life than just looking pretty.
I totally agree with you. As I get older I find it more difficult to tell the age of a teenager/preteen because of the fact that they try so hard to look older. All of this boils down to the image of what you should look like according to public figures and media to be beautiful and accepted. Unfortunately, kids are cruel and if don't look a certain way, that's when bullying starts.
ReplyDeleteIt is annoying anomally to me when I've seen freshmen girls dating senior men. Its weird enough as is, but then the guy goes off to college and she is still in high school and they're still dating. I don't have an issue with age difference, but leave that junk till you are both out of high school. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI agree... this puts so much added pressure on our girls there is enough pressure just being a teen and young adult. The teen years should be a time to experiment and learn about who you are as person not what or who you should look like especially when the images are not realistic.
ReplyDeleteIts a very scary trend to see younger girls with older men. I strongly feel that there is a point where it is ok to have a larger age difference but that comes much after high school. When maturity evens out a bit! I also feel that the parents job starts well beyond high school to ensure that our girls and boys are acting and dressing appropriately. By the time high school hits its way to late to start telling our girls to act like ladies and our boys to behave like gentleman!
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