Child Pageants

I appreciate your concern about gross and fine motor skills, but I am confident I can rebut your claim even further in an upcoming round, when I introduce options other than pageantry to better use those crucial developmental skills. I will now go on to my second round of arguments in talking about the fact that a child does not need anyone, pageant judge or not, to pass judgment on them. I will continue to break this down even further with a. the fact that these children are judged by their appearance and b. how the children feel when they do not win a prize or trophy, or when they do it is never enough. I will go about this by tearing down the judges, the assistants who assist the child in achieving their final pageant looks and the children's very own parents. Judges As I said before, a child does not need anyone passing judgment on them; judges are included in that ‘anyone.' These judges encourage the primping and posing of children who should be learning how to read and playing jump rope. I would even go far are to saying that playing a sport, in which there is no judging, but is one based on pure performance, such as basketball, is a great alternative to pageants. These judges are critical of the minor faults the young children bear as they take a stride too long or bat their eyelashes too little, and for that reason the judges should receive more criticism for participating in such an event. The longer the judges participate in these pageants, the worse and more critical they become. For these reasons, pageants are a negative environment for the children at the account of the judges. Hair Stylists, Makeup Artists & Tanning Technicians As if judging the children isn't enough, pageants encourage the children to not look like themselves, and to be someone who they are not. These three groups of people listed above are also major culprits in the world of pageants. They encourage the children to act like grown women, with extensions, highlights, and tons of hair product on the side of the hair stylists and tons of bronzer, lip gloss, and false eyelashes on the makeup artists' part. Tanning technicians are equally negative influences, as they teach the children that their skin is not beautiful enough the way it is. It teaches them that they should strive to be someone who they are not, as do hair stylists and makeup artists. The children's skin is too pale a color, their eyes are not bright enough to stun a room, and their hair is not full or long enough to be considered beautiful according to the hair stylists, makeup artists and tanning technicians who operate for pageants. This is not a message anyone should hear at any age, but children especially should not have this idea in their mind. Someone needs to tell these children that they are beautiful the way they are and no trophy will ever change or enhance it anymore; neither will the spray tan, caked on makeup or hair extensions. Again, pageants are a negative environment for children of any age, and should not be encouraged or continued. Children's Parents The parents of children in the pageant industry should be the most ashamed. They encourage their children to be the person that they are not; they encourage others to judge their children's outer beauty and if they haven't noticed already, that is not a positive outlook on life. It is almost as if the children are not good enough for their parents so they change who they are, they mold them into the person they want them to be, three-inch heels and all. These parents have no respect for themselves, their children or the other children in the competition. They have no respect for themselves because they demonstrate that they cannot handle what genes and personality their child has put forth. There is no respect for the children because of these same reasons and the fact that they are judging their children and comparing them to others. As for the respect of others, there also is none because the parents want their children to be the best versions of… someone else. In this brings bad sportsmanship and the judging of other contestants. The parents do not congratulate the winners and talk about their faults instead; they also lash out on their children for not "competing well." I almost want to go as far as saying that the parents are living through their children, but I cannot the same emotions and feeling as what someone else is going through. You may also want to take a look at this video titled, "Toddlers & Tiaras- Mother Daughter Disappointment." (http://www.youtube.com...) In it you can hear about the categories the judges have chosen winners for such as, "Most Beautiful" and "Prettiest Hair." You also get to see the disappointment of the contestant, Tiffany, and the critical look on her mother's face that does not seem like she is a positive influence in terms of sportsmanship and support for her daughter's low title in the pageant. To conclude this round, I will just say that the children competing in the pageants are learning to get by on their looks and as we all know, looks fade. The pageant world is teaching children that the way the look and act naturally is not good enough, and in fact, may even take losing in one of these pageants personally. They may feel talentless and ugly because of the negative energy and critiques from people who should not be telling a child to look and act like an adult.