Tweens Ten Going On Sixteen Summary

After carefully reading the essay “Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen,” I agree with the author’s premise. Children of this present generation are growing up too fast because they are allowed by their parents and they sometimes get encouragement from their families. Some months back, while coming from the store, I had to use the public transport as my ride. While waiting at the bus stop, I saw a girl that should be not more than 11 years. She had a bandana as her top and a mini skirt. Seeing that broke my heart and unfortunately, her mother approved her way of dressing because she was with her the whole time I was at the bus stop and she did not complain about the way her daughter dressed. Her daughter was the sexiest girl in the bus stop and she

found nothing wrong with that. “….children describe themselves as “flirtatious, sexy, trendy, athletic, cool….. Children in focus groups say they no longer even think themselves as children” (Hymowitz 191). While growing up, I would always see commercials on TV about the latest shoes, bags, clothes, accessories, etc. I wanted all of the nice clothes because I wanted to look like the beautiful models on TV. Whenever I go to the store with my sister, I would look for the provocative shirt, skirt or pants and I would beg my sister to buy them for me because they looked good on the TV models and I thought they would look good on me. Of course, she accepted because she always grant my request. I would wear my new “sexy” outfits to school and across my neighborhood. While showing off my outfits, I would receive obscene comments from guys and they were improper for a child. After a while, I started dressing in a more appropriate way and I did not receive any comments from guys. It took me a while to understand that I was dressing in a slutty way to gain attention from my friends and to be addressed as an adult. I was too young to be in a sexy outfit, but I did not care because I had seen my role models on TV wear the same outfit. Was I wrong wearing that outfit? Yes. Did the media portray the outfit as a nice and trendy outfit? Nowadays, parents want their daughters to dress up like Rihanna or Miley Cyrus forgetting that both Miley Cyrus and Rihanna have been photographed half naked and they have both been seen sliding down poles.