whats your opinion on 10 year old girls wearing makeup and...?

Question

using spray tans, having false nails and basically being treated like an adult. i was watching 'too much to soon' on itv 2 last night and one mothers attitude disgusted me. her 10 year old has tans, wears makeup everyday and refuses to have 'fat ugly friends' at school as it 'cramps' her style. the childs mother encouraged this attitude and said 'if other kids are ugly, thats their problem'. what kind of role model can she be. i have an 11 year old and i am by no means prudish but you have to draw the line somewhere. this mother said its the 21st century all kids are like that. but is it the fault of the parents in the first place? i would just like other people opinions on this, whether you disagree or not.

i want my children to be children. once they grow up they have their whole lives to be an adult.

i accept everyone has the right to bring up their own children and i don't want to appear judgemental, but i feel uncomfortable seeing 10 year olds dressed up like women.

annieb: just to add, this particular girl does watch her weight, she has an exercise bike in her living room and counts the calories burned!! i felt saddened.

Answer 1

It's completely the fault of the parent, and it's very sad for the child. If they are forced into being a teenager before they're ten, then what are they expected to be in their teens? Sexually active? Parents?

My little girl is seven and so far, the highlight of her year has been her ballet recital when she got to wear makeup and was so excited by the glitter and lip gloss she got to wear. She saw it as a huge deal - a really special occasion. Where's the treat for a child who thinks that's normal?

It scares me a little how children know about designer brands, makeup, explicit lyrics in music - let them be little and innocent for as long as they can be -they'll grow up fast enough without some pushy mother making them look like mini streetwalkers.

Answer 2

I agree with you. The problem is some of these mothers bless them think they are doing the right thing by their children by being cool...or understanding.
Thing is children have the rest of their lives to do this. This is the main reason girls are having their periods early... their minds are way too advanced and the body then does the same.You see girls everyday that are just jail bait..if a child starts putting make up now what will the skin look like at 40? She may need to go on a cheap tv programme to get some free face lift or surgery like 10yrs younger ...after years of putting poison into her skin...do you know what is in make up? These parents need to look at the contents of make up before putting it on a child's face...its just irresponsible.

You as a parent need to do what you feel is right.Ignore what other mothers or children are doing its up to them...Some of these people are not very bright to be honest.They mistake being a parent with keeping up what everyone else is doing in society...society didn't ask you to have a baby...society didn't come to your house and ask you to have the baby and they would raise him or her...its not society's child...its yours...only you can do the best you can for your child. Some 21st century children are also into knives, drugs and risky sexual behaviour...does that mean its ok?

Answer 3

Not only would I not allow my child to behave like this, I'd encourage her not to associate with anyone who did. And I'd explain exactly why. All kids are NOT like this (thank god) - for a start all makeup is banned at my daughter's school until the sixth form, so that's an entire school of kids age 11-16 which is 100% not like this!

I see very little difference between refusing to have "fat ugly friends" and refusing to have "black friends" - they are both a sign of ignorance and intolerance, and people who hold attitudes like that deserve to be treated with utter contempt.

Answer 4

I didn't wear make up until I was fifteen!
To have a ten-year-old doing that, I agree, is pretty disgusting.
I mean, I've STILL never sprayed tanned although that's probably got more to do with the colour of my skin, BUT fake nails, watching your weight, not having fat friends?
I don't do that, and I'm a woman!
That mother is no role model, I would never want my daughters doing that.

Answer 5

I think it is a shame and a disgrace that this is the way that things are now days. I have a 14 year old daughter and she is one that does not like to see other girls her age being so immodest, and wearing so much make-up. we raised her to know that her true beauty is her natural self, not make-up. she does wear a little now that she is a teenager, but only very lightly. i have never thought that it looked good to see a woman or anyone with anything other than light make-up on. i have a neice that is raised by her mom alone and she is allowed to do most anything, she is only 12 and wears make-up, dresses provocatively, and she even pratices pole dancing. my daughter and i both told her and her mom that she is setting her self up to find some serious problems. that she is setting her self up for a child predator. i had custody of her for almost a year and while i had her here i would not let her dress like that or act like that. she had even told us when she grows up that she wants to be a stripper, which i immediately told her mom about. it upsets me so much, but there is nothing i can do.

Answer 6

There is nothing wrong with a mother wanting her daughter to look beautiful but the mother you mentioned is overdoing it. And i disagree with her teaching her daughter to avoid other children who are not that beautiful. And sometimes a woman looks old and age fast (in terms of skin) when without make up when she is used to wearing them everyday.

One more thing, if being friends with fat people cramps style,
Being rude to fat people shows how dark her personality is.

My mother does not wear make up and i saw her classmates before in their reunion and i saw how old her classmates look
compared to my mother. My mother told me that her former classmates wear make up a lot.

I see it as something wrong for a parent to do but we don't know.. maybe the reason why they are doing this is because of something psychological. Maybe when they were young they were very popular that they also want their children to be like them. Or maybe when they were young they were not popular and they always get ridiculed that they don't want their children to experience it. Maybe as an unpopular child they wanted to experience how to be popular in school but since they are already out of schooling, they do it through their children. There are still more other possibilities. I just believe that in every story another story is behind it and so it follows. What these parents are doing right now may be results of their past.

Answer 7

At the a age of 10 they are still babies in my eyes,you would think when that litte girl Jo Benet (sorry about spelling but im sure you know who I mean) was murdered it would wake people up.When you go shopping all the little girls are out trying to get the boys attention,the skimpier the clothes the better.Make Up,Skimpy Clothe,s + Mobile Phones and parents that dont give a sh*t.Yet if anything happened (why my daughter is the first words out of there mouth) It should be illegal for kids to dress like adults.

Answer 8

I so disagree - children NEED to be children, not mini-adults. At that age she should be playing with her friends, reading comics and having fun - not worrying is her false tan smudged.
What will happen if the child puts on a little weight in a few years?
That woman is trying to live her life through her child and should be sent on a parenting course.

Answer 9

There are extremes for everything, and they are often very scary. I would never allow my child to act and behave like that, but she wouldn't learn it from me, wouldn't be exposed to it etc.

I think make-up is often gets the forbidden fruit syndrome, mom uses it for special occasions or to cover spots, so the child wishes to use it. I think using make-up (whatever age) should be approched with caution, explaining why mom uses it, and how it can be abused like anything.

I would also like to bring up the fact that many (almost all) cosmetics are tested on animals, which isn't beautiful at all. Each aspect of allowing your child to wear make up is personal and should be talked about throughly.

My mother let me start wearing mascara at the age of 12 or 13, and I never really wanted to wear much else. As I got older I wanted to cover bad skin, but now I am makeup free, and I am beautiful and always have been. So, I think if you remove the forbidden fruit and discuss about make up and internal beauty with your child it can be a safe and creative avenue to explore.

The woman you described is the downfall of our society in my opinion. The line has to be drawn, and not necessarily on your face!

Answer 10

Children should be children at that age, its much too soon to start worring about makeup and nails etc. As for not wanting ugly friends isn't that the start of a bullying attitude that's being encouraged by her mother!