Too much, too soon for today’s children

Girls as young as eight are being pressured into wearing skimpy clothes, make-up, padded bras and thongs, according to newspaper and TV reports.

A Home Office report by clinical psychologist Linda Papadopoulus found that girls are desperate to please boys, while boys feel pressurised to sleep with as many women as possible.

She recommended age restrictions on lads’ magazines such as Zoo and Nuts, and symbols identifying which girlie adverts and magazine spreads have been airbrushed.

Janice Barker asked shoppers in Oldham town centre if they thought young children expect too much, too soon. And the answer was a resounding Yes.

Mother of two sons Marie Littlehales (53), from Rochdale, agreed and said: “I wouldn’t have liked things like this when my children were young.

“They are 34 and 31 now, and I have a grandson, but I agree it’s all making them grow up too quickly, and it is very worrying.”

Three teenage friends from Oldham College also agreed. Amy Burleigh (17) said: “They definitely feel pressurised, and it does worry me.”

Shannon O’Rourke (16) said: “I was absolutely not like that. I was a tomboy and didn’t like fancy clothes at all.”

Millie Atkinson (18) said: “My cousin is 10 and likes dressing up, make-up and everything, so I can see it happening in my own family. I think the media and magazines are to blame.”

Twenty-one year-old teaching student Nazir Riaz, from University Campus Oldham, said : “Girls wear these clothes to impress boys and I think it’s wrong.

“Boy friends want all their girl friends to dress up, and girls always want to look better than the other girls. School girls wear mini-skirts and open buttons even though they are only children. Anyway, it’s too cold in the UK for skimpy clothes.”

Samantha Illing (20), from Oldham, was shopping with her daughter Tiegan, who is nearly three, and said: “She likes make-up — she watches me put on lip balm and copies me.

“I’m dreading her growing up, and the thing that worries me is that she will think she is too fat and then want to lose weight, and want to be perfect.”

Four Oldham Sixth-Form College student friends had distinct views on young children growing up too soon.

Jordan Crowther (17) said he would be worried if a five or six-year-old younger sister wanted such clothes, and 16-year-old Kristin Mackenzie added: “I was a tomboy, playing with mud and catching frogs and stuff.”

Alex Richards (16) said: “I know a young girl who is starting to dress up like that, wearing slutty clothes and she is only six.

“She is wearing short skirts and tops and blue eye-liner and eye-shadow, and there’s a lot of that around Oldham.”

Alex Crompton (17) said: “Society is changing and it’s definitely not like the 1950s. There is too much information out there and too much coverage. We should step back and think about these things.”

Jenna McBride (20), from Shaw, was shopping with her ten-week-old son Curtis, and said she was relieved he was a boy, adding: “I have a 13-year-old sister and she is in with the fashions.

“There is a lot of bullying these days about keeping up with fashion and the need to get the right sort of clothes, and feeling under pressure. It comes across in school.

“They should stay little girls for as long as possible.”