Teens and the way they dress...

[TondaB]

Ok, I have to bring this up. Is it just me or are teenagers dressing more risque now than they use to? I remember when I was in high school and my mom would have killed me if I even tried to wear what most high school girls wear now a days!


Do you see this happening too? What are your thoughts?

[Evil Chris]

Luckily I do not have a teenage daughter... well, not yet anyway but I know what you mean by all of this Tonda.
I noticed as well that young girls start wearing way too much make-up way too soon now also.

[Ronaldo]

Originally posted by Tonda
Do you see this happening too?
Yes, I do.

Originally posted by Tonda
What are your thoughts?
Can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings and why wasn't I born 15 years later than I was.

[TondaB]

Ron -

Would you let your daughter dress like that? Seriously, I would go to school with my daughter all day every day before she dressed like that!

[Ronaldo]

Tonda,

I have a 4 year old daughter and I certainly won't want her to dress as they dress today when she's 12 or so.

Will I like the fact that she will dress that way? No. But, I can't stop it.
I'm not going to impose a dress code on my child when her friends are dressing in the cool clothes. It might sound ridiculous, but acceptance is one of the most important things that we all encounter in our lives. I will do almost anything in my power to ensure that my children are accepted by their peers.

Social acceptance during the teen years is critical. Then we mature later and realize that we are being foolish by caving in to peer pressure.

Drugs, alcohol, etc? I won't encourage my children to do them, but they're going to anyways. As a parent, I'll tell them my experiences and hope that they learn something. Then they'll make the choices and stand by them much more firmly than if Mommy or Daddy said it wasn't right.

The most important thing I want them to learn is that if they are EVER in trouble, no matter what it is, their parents are there to help them.

I'd like to think that the influence and direction that her parents gave to her will guide my little daughter through life entirely unscathed, but I'm not that naive.

At that age, parental influence is at it's lowest point. We lose them for a few years to their friends and to school crap or what have you.

I only hope that when that phase is over, my child will come back to me and realize that the advice that I gave them, was indeed better than the advice she was receiving from outside sources.

You have to let them grow up. Kids are like people that way.

[TondaB]

Wow! I understand that a teen is under alot of pressure to be excepted etc. but at what cost?

Am I going to dress my kid in jeans up to their arm pits and ragged old sweatshirts with dirty velcro shoes? No.

I am of the belief that you can dress cool without wearing a skirt that barely covers your ass and a top that is meant for under wear not outer wear.

I would rather have my kids be total outcasts than have one pregnant at 12 and the other OD by age 16.

I appreciate your thoughts and would love to see more of everyone's thoughts on this topic. It is fun to break up the day with a little controversy!

[Panky]

I've noticed the trend too. I don't mind so much the clothes they wear, or how much war paint they applied that day, it's their attitudes and total lack of manners that gets me.

I was a teenage girl once too. I played the game. I rebelled like everyone else. My parents deserve honors for surviving my teen years. They were actually pretty cool. My parents tolerated a lot. One thing they would not tolerate was a lack of manners. I was raised to hold doors for people. I was raised to say "please", "thank you" and "excuse me". The only time I ever spoke back to my parents, grandparents, or authority figures, is when I had damn good reason to. My parents taught us the difference between "mouthing off", and sticking up for what is right.

Today it just seems the kids are not being taught these things. Doesn't have to be teens really. I've heard 6, 7, and 8 year olds say things to their moms that I can't believe they didn't get scolded for.

It's not true for all kids, but there definitely seems to be alot more who rule their parents instead of their parents ruling them.

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[Ronaldo]

Tonda,

I don't think you're giving the kids of today enough credit.

Someone experimenting with pot at a party is one thing. Going through the stages of drug abuse to the point of having to deal with an overdose is quite another.

As for girls getting pregnant. I think that you're assuming that what these girls wear mean that they hop into bed with every Ron, Dick or Harry that they meet. I don't think that could be further from the truth.

Kids are most certainly more mature than when I was a kid, but they also have infinetely more information available to them as well.

Geez, the one thing I keep hearing over and over from the feminist pov is that just because women wear something that makes them feel sexy, that doesn't mean that they're out to have sex.

Panky,

I most definetely agree with you on the manners thing. Blame the lawyers.

[BobbyR]

I don't know about this one... I mean the clothes teenage girls are wearing these days may seem a little too revealing but let me think back to when I was 12-15. Rock and Roll was king. All the girls were wearing Nikey half shirts two sizes to small with no bra and a pair of jeans so damn tight it went up the butt crack.

It really wasn't any less revealing than what we see today, just a different style and trend.

[wolfman]

Panky, Renaldo,

I couldn’t agree with you guys more on this one, I have nieces that are in their late teens and I find that they have a wealth of info today that we didn't have back then.

Each girl has their own styles and hangs with a specific crowd. Where I live, the majority of young girls I find have a decent dress style. You will always the few that you will do a double take, and ask yourself how they got out of the house dressed like that!

But hey, as parents, I find that we have a responsibility to try and set limits or guidelines in what they wear and what influences them. That must start at the earliest age as possible.

I have set guidelines and boundaries for my girls and so far so good. Although they are relatively young, they see what girls wear, act, say and do around them. I found that my 5yrs old has started to ask lots of questions about many things that she sees around her everyday, you try to answer and teach as best as you can.

Yes they will pick up their own styles and hang with certain crowds that I may or may not agree with. But I was thought by my parents and grandparents; if you try give them a solid close nit family upbringing, they will not only listen and respect you, but they will respect themselves as a person.

Hopefully with that in mind things turn out well…

;)