Teens in tiny clothes are OK

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare coming to life when their baby girl starts going out in the tiniest clothes her allowance can buy. But some psychologists and child-development specialists believe their behavior isn’t cause for alarm but a necessary step in growing up.

Today virtual spaces, like Myspace or YouTube or Friendster, are full of pictures where teens can be found in skimpy cloths and seductive poses. And though the very thought of someone so young engaging in such overtly sexual expression may be disturbing, experts believe that the situation isn’t as bad as it looks.

Looks deceive

“There’s a difference between posting a picture of yourself in virtual space, and posing in provocative clothing in public,” said John Broughton, Columbia University professor of psychology and education.

Striking a seductive pose in front of her peers might seem impossible for a girl who might not think twice about putting up a picture of herself on the Internet in a skimpy bikini.

And it isn’t necessary that a teenager who prefers to wear sexy clothes will, as a rule, engage in sexual activity or indulge in promiscuous behavior.

Jaana Juvonen studies the development of middle and high school students at UCLA. She opines that “Many girls might look very differently from how they act.” 

She suggests that teenagers have always been prone to ‘mimic the appearance of their older peers.’ The problem only appears to be more acute today because girls hit puberty earlier now than they did decades ago. But that doesn’t mean they’re engaging in acts that ought to be beyond their years. “We should not judge them based on what they look like,’ she says.

LynNell Hancock, a Columbia University journalism professor who covers the youth beat believes that striking a sexy pose may be an extension of childhood – just like playing astronaut or princess. It allows teens to escape their everyday lives and play in a realm removed from reality.

she said:

Adults think that kids take everything literally — if [teens] pose in a bikini, they’re suddenly sexually active. It’s odd that adults who are supposed to think more conceptually are thinking so concretely.

Movers and shakers

And the popular assumption that listening to a particular genre of music or dancing in a provocative manner is an indicator of sexual activity among adolescents may also be no more than an old myth.

Professor Hancock says:

There isn’t any new problem here. Moving your hips in the suggestive way that Elvis was doing made adults think that we were hopping into bed with everything that moved. And of course that wasn’t the case — it was just another case of expressing sexuality. Every generation thinks that teenagers are going to hell in a hand basket for a variety of reasons.

According to Hancock, by dressing provocatively, dancing seductively and posting suggestive photos on social networking sites, young women are trying to establishing their independence: a time-honored goal of adolescence.

She said:

They’re breaking away from their parents and authority figures in order to become independent people. These are all just expressions of that. We like to think of children as completely innocent. So when they do things that are not age appropriate, it freaks people out.