Planet Conservo

Alright so I realize that I kind of come off harsh, and like I said in the beginning of my blog I don’t want to sound like I am from Planet Conservo and that we should lock up all children and only let them watch approved G-rated programming, eat organic food and pretend MTV doesn’t exist. Because when you step back and look at the world you can see that not every little girl growing up today will be ruined by the media, the movie She’s All That will not mess up her self esteem and she won’t become obese because she eats McDonalds. HOWEVER, I have to say that parenting as well as corporate responsibility are a huge part of this, because both parties need to realize their level of influence and use it responsibly, something I don’t think they really do.

Story time! Okay, I have four very sweet neighbor girls who come to my door almost every day in their little pink or blue (depending on the day) princess dresses and ask if I can play. Sometimes I have time, sometimes I don’t, but I try my best. If we don’t end up playing tag then I break out my paints and sparkles and we usually sit on the lawn, paint and chat about things.

The two older girls who are usually not sporting princess costumes are Hailey and Jessica. Hailey is 8 and Jessica is 11, Hailey while notably younger is less disciplined than Jessica and less respectful of authority. Jessica’s mom is a single mom and seems to be very involved in her life and they do lots of things together, whereas Hailey is trucked from her father’s house to her grandmother’s house daily. Her mom is young and never shows any real care for what she does, she tells me she roams around the neighborhood as she pleases and watches whatever she wants on television.

Now I am not sure if there are any extenuating circumstances but I think it is safe to say that their parents clearly affect who they are as people. Now I realize that the media has a huge influence on their lives as well, and I will be posting more about corporate responsibility in the future, but for now I just want so show that there are normal girls out there. They each have their flaws but they are awesome girls who aren’t obsessed with being sexy or watching MTV, and hopefully as they age those things won’t become problems. But as our culture takes kids on a fast-track to adulthood I can only wonder how these girls will continue to grow in a culture that is growing ever faster.