pants

[comloulou]

You've probably all heard the hoo-ha about little girls in G-strings and the school thats banned them but what do you think? Personally I think its obscene to put 9 year olds in tiny thongs with suggestive logos on them and then let them wear trousers cut just above the pubic region but am I alone in this?

[rekstout]

I agree that it is wholly inappropriate. You cannot blame the kids though, they are impressionable and constantly bombarded by such imagery (ever read any "Teen Magazines?"). Parents need to exercise greater authority over their kids in ensuring that what they wear is appropriate - difficult I know but who said parenting was easy?

[comloulou]

True, I cant imagine how hard it must be to be a parent but there was one in the Daily Mirror yesterday and one on GMTV thismorning both whinging about how their kids were tired of being treated like children. Well whats the hope if it's the mothers buying these things for thei CHILDREN. 11 isnt teenage, its child and I think its so sad that childhood just doesnt seem to exist anymore. Sorry, Im ranting.....

[banana]

I think they tend to be the same parents who send their little girls to school in high heeled clogs which prevent them from playing.Who put little girls into bra tops which are not appropriate for PE.The same ones who dress small babies in gangsta clothes .Who put earrings into babies ears. While there are businesses making these things there will be people ready and willing to buy.The businesses say "we only make what people want" and parents buy what the children see in the shops...

[5029]

I think its a bit sick for parents to buy them for their kids but at the same time i think that the school is going too far in dictating what underwear the children can wear. School uniforms yes, but everyone should have a choice of what undergarments to wear

[chijiki]

I suppose the dark blue - up to the belly button - ones that we used to wear have gone out of fashion. They were functional though. Always good for storing your hankie, and for hiding your playtime biscuits. I do think that the school has a point in that the girls are being encouraged not to show too much of their anatomy, whilst at school.

[Miss Zippy]

I find it distasteful too, though if the children merely see these articles as being fashionable and not sexy, then it is arguable whether they are doing any harm. If, however, they are encouraging children to be sexually aware at an earlier age that they might otherwise be, then obviously this could potentially be harmful.

[beenee]

This is just a little product of the mass empowerment of children in this day and age. Parents are increasingly losing control over kids and it is mainly their fault. Media are to blame too: good examples would be tv shows like 'Trust me I'm a Teenager', 'Boys Alone', 'DIY by kids' ... I mean, why should children integrate into the adult world so early on? I for one think they should remain kids for as long as possible - commercial empowerment should be withdrawn from their access.

[treaclefight]

im in agreement with you all, i also think theres a problem in that we trivialise what children do like to do and so they end up wanting to be like adults because they want to get their parents approval, it isnt exiting but i do help my 10year old organise her beanie baby collection and we take barbie on holiday and i try to skip and we have picnics in the garden ond oh my god it bores me to tears some days, but i'd rather do that than discuss whether or not she's sexy enough, i think we need to enjoy children being children (dont get me started on entertaing the 8 year old and the four year old)

[andy hughes]

Every one of the same mind so far - myself included. The sexualisation of children is deeply sinister, and can only be pandered to by paretns who simply don't think seriously about what their children thjink and feel as they grow and question the world around them. My fourteen year old constantly maons about being treated 'like a child' but that's what she is, and I'm her Dad, and if I have to remind her of that twenty times a day, that's fine by me - but it is a struggle sometimes. It's like this - from 0 - about 13 you are God on earth, and everything you say is the definitive answer, from 14 to about 18, you are the killjoy who is determined to stop your teenager from having any fun at all, and from 18 onwards, you are a fallable but fundamentally caring person - which is what you were all along, but it takes an adult to see where their parents get their ideas from !

[woodpam]

I'm so glad to read all your answers, I thought I was just getting very old and unreasonable but I totally agree with you all. How little girls can be expected to play comfortably and freely in thongs is beyond me. There's plenty of time for them to experience the discomfort (and cold!) from wearing these things. The blurring of the distinction between children and adults has made the world a more inhibited and less safe place for them at a time when they should be able to just enjoy being children.

[xyzzy@bok]

nice one, Treaclefight. :-)

[d+dwidow]

I think it's absolutely disgusting that parents dress their children in g-strings. Sorry to sound archaic but they're just kids and it seems as if children aren't allowed to be children anymore. They're expected to be mini-adults at the age of 8 and i think their naivity is being stolen. What's the rush to make them grow up? They'll have plenty of time being an adult, why can't they be allowed to enjoy their childhood? I went into an underwear shop with a friend of mine and they were selling sexy, fur lined, leopard print thongs and underwired bras for kids as young as 6. Any parent who would buy and let their kid wear something like that deserves a visit from social services. Also I don't think that the images being shown in the media do them any favours. I know that it shouldn't matter, but britney and the rest are role models for these kids and children are obviously going to want to copy their idols...but there has to be a limit, doesn't there? Sorry about the rant but it infuriates me!

[Janetex]

Barbie dolls are banned in my household, as are idiot parents, but how dare a bureaucracy dictate on underwear. Get on with stamping out incest and rape, thanks.

[LeMarchand]

Janetex - are you saying that we shouldn't be criticising people for letting their kids wear such underwear? I would have thought that it was more likely that they would attract the attentions of a paedophile wearing such gear ("They were asking for it, dressed like that, your honour"), thus increasing the likelyhood of incest/rape. I'm with the people who think that it is inappropriate, but it seems as if a large section of society is quite happy to deprive their children of childhood, and move them straight into adulthood.

[gilf]

I agree with Janetex, What right have people to dictate what my children wear. I'm sending mine in crotchless knickers and peep hole bras next week. Yes its about fashion but its more about looking good in tight trousers. Fetish wear is fashionable in some circles but I wouldnt be sending my 11 year old to school in a Gimp suit.

[archhippy]

I think children are children for only a short amount of time and need to be brought in fashions that are suitable for children i support the move of suspension because what willl those girls grow up to be like? living near to where they were suspended from and know the town the children grow up to fast in this area they should allow to kids for those few years at least instead of rushing them into adult hood.

[lauracli]

So when they forget their PE kit and do gym in their knickers, they'll be running about in a thong. Not right, surely?

[seagull]

You're judging it from your own perspective, ie, 'thongs are sexy, therefore children must not wear them'. Children merely see what fashions are about and want to copy them, copy what their mum does, copy what their big sister wears. That's all - it's simply copying and wanting to be grown up. Nothing to do with sex or sexiness. If you find a 9-y/o provocative, perhaps you should be examining yourself. 60 years ago you'd all have been worrying about knee-length skirts...