Bratz dolls have pre-adolescent figures and are sexy in a pedophilia kind of way. Is this what you want for your 7-year-old?
Mall stores are carrying the most offensive video games money can buy. The biggest seller is “Grand Theft Auto.”
Posted on 12/04/2005 11:20:04 AM PST by wagglebee
Shopping for kids seems to be getting harder every year. I hear from parents across the country who are shocked every time they shop — not just by the prices, but by the toys and other desirables on children’s wish lists.
Do we really want our 4-year old princesses dressing dolls that look like street-walkers? Do we want our teenage daughters to dress that way? Do we want our adolescent sons spending hours playing video games that make a sport of killing policemen and prostitutes? What does it say about our country that some of the most popular products are so offensive? And, what can we do about it?
At one mall, mothers have been protesting a Victoria’s Secret for a store window displaying mannequins in sexually explicit S&M poses. The mannequins model the kinds of microscopic underwear that used to be reserved for strippers, but are now on the wish lists of young teenagers.
But it was not just the merchandise but also the poses that were too offensive, even by today’s standards. Parents don’t like having to walk past sexually explicit store windows with their children — call them crazy, but they don’t think its appropriate for a family shopping mall.
And they don’t want G-strings marketed to adolescent girls. The mall management responded by accusing the politely protesting moms of violating the mall code of conduct!
Mall stores across the country are carrying many of the most offensive video games that money can buy. The all-time biggest seller, “Grand Theft Auto” — now in its third version — finally graduated to an “adults only” rating, which means the game “should only be played by persons 18 years and older” and “may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.” Several major chain stores will not carry “adults only” games, fortunately. Unfortunately, they all carry video games labeled Mature, often geared to pre-teens and young teens, even though they are “suitable for persons ages 17 and older” and contain “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.” Believe me, they look more like X.
Parents hope that these ratings don’t matter, since it is “only a game” and since kids see so much sex and violence on TV, movies and the Internet. They do matter. Research shows that playing a game that rewards violent and offensive behaviors is even more likely to influence what kids think and do than passively watching it.
Perhaps you’re now thanking your lucky stars that you can shop for dolls instead. But millions of Bratz dolls, dressed like what used to be called “tarts” (now it’s called “attitude”), are sold to preschool and elementary school girls. These dolls have preadolescent figures and are sexy in a pedophilia kind of way. Is this the ideal you want for your darling 7-year-old?
A Bratz TV show helps sell the dolls and electronic Bratz gifts — including telephones and TVs for your child’s room. For parents and grandparents who care about their children, a TV or computer in the room may seem a very reasonable choice. Unfortunately, kids with TV’s in their room watch more TV, watch more TV that their parents would consider objectionable, read less and sleep less. And kids who watch more TV tend to be more violent, are more likely to be overweight and tend to do less well in school.
The advantage of having TV in a child’s room? There aren’t any, unless you want to see less of your child and not hear what they are watching.
Computers in a child’s bedroom are a mixed blessing. Computers are great for schoolwork, but when they are in the bedroom, children are more likely to view pornography or be “educated” in chat rooms in ways you never dreamed of. Research shows that one in five kids receive unwanted online sexual requests.
So, if there is another room in your house for your child to use a computer, instead of their bedroom, that’s a safer choice.
What can we do? If we keep buying sexualized dolls and violent video games, companies will keep promoting more of the same. One solution is to talk to family members who buy gifts for our children, letting them know, for example, what a Mature or Adults Only rating means on a video game. We can also talk to the parents of our children’s friends, to cooperatively establish standards that parents can agree on and avoid the “all my friends have it” line that is otherwise so effective.
And, we can all check Web sites such as www.toysafety.org and www.mediafamily.org to avoid the worst offenders.
Happy holidays? We will be happier if we make sure the things we buy our kids won’t harm them. And we can ask mall managers for help, starting with a real code of conduct for what is sold in their stores.
Increasingly, video games are becoming an entertainment media for adults, not children.
"great" example we're setting.
"I don't know who they would be appropriate for. "
WHO do you think???
"I agree that it's tough to find clothes for girls that are decent, modest, and reasonably priced."
Can't say I disagree. Whatever happened to footballs and bikes?
"What on earth is a "family shopping mall"?"
A sleazy adoption agency.
It's the cost, more than the selection. Between outgrowing things and wearing them out, my girls go through LOTS of clothes! With unlimited money to spend, there's no problem.
As it is, we go to Wal-mart and get ordinary pants - takes some doing - and t-shirts. Everyone looks kind of Grunge, but at least they're covered!
Toughskin brand blue jeans available in the boys' department of Sears?
My 5 brothers and I wore toughskins all the way through elementary school.
NOTE TO PARENTS: Look at the ratings of the video games before you buy them. Grand Theft Auto is rated M (for Mature) which means no kids. And don't count on the local video store to check the ratings of video games as they do with movies.
What's up with the boy holding his Schwanz. Seems like their are waiting reciptitents.
Good article! I have a horse that I stable at a barn where they give lessons to kids. The owner/teacher is a Christian and is my friend. One day I walked in to take my horse out and there was a little girl, about 8, waiting for her lesson and wearing a spaghetti-strap tank that had the word "Slut" written across it in glitter. My friend gave her a shirt to throw on over it, but was careful not to embarrass the little girl.
The parents were furious that their 8 yr old girl could not wear the "Slut" t-shirt.
I think we have a problem here, and it isn't with the children.
"Everyone looks kind of Grunge, but at least they're covered!"
Maybe they'll start a fad. Who knows.
Whatever happened to the Cabbage Patch Kids? I suppose Barbie, in the 60's, when she first appeared, was a bit of a stretch for those times, too.
I dunno. I don't see the Bratz dolls as a really big deal, myself. Others apparently do. They pretty much reflect the culture of teens these days, so they're naturally popular with younger girls, just like Barbie was.
It isn't teenagers who play with fashion dolls. It's the 10-12 set, and they're going with what they see out there.
I disagree strongly with those who would put an outright ban on these dolls. That's wrong. Parents are, apparently, deciding to buy these things for their daughters, and in large number. I'd guess that lots of those parents also take their daughters to Sunday School and church, too.
Gloom and doom does not seem to be an appropriate response to children's toys.
They have so many neat science and craft things for kids these days
While all of this is going on, parents have abandoned all pretense of trying to instill morality in their children. They view "safe sex" as a good alternative to abstinence and view other behaviors as a form of "childhood rebellion," hoping the kids will "grow out of it" (but from what I've seen, children are getting worse the older they get).
I agree. We have too much of the "get the kids whatever they want" syndrome today. We were always excited regardless of the things we got because we were taught to be thankful for what we have.
children are getting worse the older they get).
A lot of us adults act too much like "children" too.
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