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<\/a>Compared to the past when we used fake\/plastic make-up, today young girls feel it necessary to put on the real thing.\u00a0Source: Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n The television shows that children are watching also affect their development. Among the top watched shows by kids ages 2- to 11- year-olds, they included\u00a0iCarly\u00a0<\/em>(Nick,\u00a02.7 million),\u00a0Monster High\u00a0<\/em>(Nick, 2.4 million),\u00a0American Idol\u00a0<\/em>Wednesday (2.2 million), and\u00a0Victorious\u00a0<\/em>(Nick, 2 million). For kids 12-year-old and up, shows included\u00a0Family Guy\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Simpsons.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tv show Monster High. Source: Google images<\/p><\/div>\n Industires and the media have moved in to exploit kids. There are companies\u00a0selling padded bikinis for seven-year-olds and companies that sell elaborate cosmetics\u2014lipstick, rouge, eyeliners\u2014for 4-to 9-year-old girls. Some of these girls now feel they can’t go outside without their makeup.\u00a0In 2011\u00a0Walmart rolled out a line of anti-aging cosmetics, called Geo Girl, geared toward 8- to 12-year-olds. The line had\u00a069 products ranging from exfoliators (to scrub off dead\/old cells) to lipstick and blush. Companies pushed for younger and younger crowds; so now, we have girls in second grade bugging Mom for a\u00a0push-up bikini\u00a0and skinny jeans.\u00a0Research by the American Psychology Association<\/a> has shown that young children\u2014younger than 8 years\u2014are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising.\u00a0In commercials, young girls and boys wear designer jeans and sexy hairdos and stand in sexy positions.<\/p>\n Many young children\u00a0are consumed with anxiety as a reaction to the stress about what to wear to school and whether it will be \u2018cool<\/em>\u2019 or acceptable to their peers.\u00a0Anxiety \u00a0has become “a normal part of childhood;” they experience fear, nervousness, and shyness, and they start to avoid places and activities\u00a0(Anxiety and Depression Association of America<\/a>).<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Advertising campaigns and adult-like television shows are forcing children to grow up too quickly by\u00a0pressuring them to act older than they are. They are being exposed to\u00a0messages that are too mature for them. The television shows that children are watching … Continue reading <\/a>