I think pageants for children are giving the wrong message. Pageants are a bit superficial and I think its a wrong message to be sending a child.

Most of the parents are really pushy.The child is also growing up way to fast and is being paraded around like some sort of 'Barbie doll', the child will then start thinking this is the way women should be, paraded around.

i totally agree... it sends out all of the wrong messages to the child! and its selfish of the parents to be so pushy

As long as there are regulations to monitor it (so that the children aren't taken advantage of), it's fine with me. I agree it doesn't send out a great message, but how is that different from any other pageant? Should we ban all pageants? Where do you draw the line? Are teen pageants okay?

hmmm it's not really a thing over here in britain so i'm too on my opinions to be honest on the plus side, it could be a confidence boost for the child, the parents have their right to bring their children up how they see fit, people do make careers out of it, it is also based on talent and current affairs opinions (to my understanding), it may be fun for the child so what the hell i'll be pro lol

I think most of the comments so far for the against seem very judgemental a lot of things in the world can be seen to give our negative images such as a obese role model or a super skinny role model doesn't mean we should ban them or shade children away from them, There is also a rise in male pageants so it's not just about women. I also don't think it's fair to just call these parents "pushy" I bet a lot of the girls love getting dressed up all pretty and being able to display their talents, there are plenty of things parents can put presure on a child for such as sports or academic stuff doesn't mean we should also say their wrong for children

I just find it rather ridiculous. Like you guys were saying before it can send out wrong messages. I think that cute little local things are okay, but nothing like really big or for money. I think that if kids do it regularly they could grow up to be arrogant and would like dsdsdrsf said, think thats what they do, get paraded around.

Like Debs said, you find pushy parents in any sport, football (or soccer if you will) hockey, figure skating, swimming whatever.
And wrong values? That depends more on the rest of the upbringing of a child than the pageants I think. If a parent only is positive to their child when they win, then the child will probably think that they have to be beautiful and perfect to be loved.
(But the same goes for other sports.)
If a parent just makes it a fun game and does not put to much weight and pressure on the competition the child will probably just enjoy it and not get all their value and self-worth from the pageants.
My sister was a very good football player, but she never got arrogant as some of her team-mates in the selection (the selection is a special team for good players) because my parents always made it clear that football was just a game and while they were proud of her, she was not more or less than others.

'I bet a lot of the girls love getting dressed up all pretty and being able to display their talents'

I did my holy communion just for the pretty dress :P

Little kids cannot wake up one day and all of a sudden want to be a prized doll.

Of course little girl love getting dressed up but not for a day job. If you had your holy communion with that pretty dress over and over again it would be very monotonous and they will probably want to get out of the trade, little kids aren't as dedicated as parent, kids will eventually get bored but a parent who is earning the money won't, they will keep pushing their child.

:X

dsdsdrsf as always providing a debate for me :D

i don't think little kids do wake up one day and want to be in a pagents i think it's like any other child ambition you see something or someone that inspires you and you want to aspire to that whether it be a actress, olympic medal winner or a pagent winner

a pagent isn't a day job, it's my understanding that they only get dressed up for the actual pagents and they must have a talent such as singing or dancing to enter and they have other sections (like i said i'm british so i'm not sure what) so i doubt it will be boring for the child they will have plenty of variety i don't see why it would be any less enjoyable than entering football turnaments, taking part in the school play or competing in spelling bees (yet another thing we don't have here lol)

the money is another issue that i see is a plus, surly that a way to help the family, weather it be a less fortunate family who could really use that money or weather it be money that the parents will spend directly on the child or may go to funding and continuing on the childs hobbies

Although the child does get judged on their talent, the rest of the qualities that judges look for are all so superficial. You WON'T win the competition if your look isn't right.

In my opinion, If the child's talent is say playing a piano why can't the parent's just enter them in a piano recital competition instead. In those competitions they are just purely on their given talent and won't be put down for looking bad in a evening gown or giving a wrong answer to a question.

but the whole show buis buisness is based on looks and i think say a child's talent for entertaining whilst singing wouldn't have a place in a recietal because they wouldn't get anywhere against pitch perfect voices, it's a different standard and different kind of performing is all

i don't understand how it directly harms anyone when done as other hobbie or why it should be stopped because of people's personal opinions, I mean i wouldn't put my child in one unless they really wanted to do it but i don't see anything actually wrong with them other than this preconcieved stereotype that none of the kids want to do it and they all end up with self esteem issues

The child won't get anywhere against 'perfect' kids. If a chid is a little bit chubby they won't win on account of them being 'fat'. The kids are also pressurised to be thin/thinner so that they can fit the judges stereotypes of 'perfection'; this may lead to bulimia, anorexia and depression. The child may also think that being pretty is the only way to gain popularity and fame. A little child's life should be about fun, not working to achieve an invisible goal of 'perfection'. Pageants also sexualize little kids, by parading them around in bikinis , which would be a goldmine for paedophiles. I also don't think that a little kid can switch on a channel and somehow they see a beauty pageant (especially in the U.K.), the only way they can find out about this is by parents who convince them that it will be 'fun'.

Quite frankly the only reason I don't like kids being in pageants is because the pageants for kids are too similar to the ones for adults. Children should not be in swimsuit competitions, maybe that's just me, but I think the pageants sexually objectify the children, even if it is unintentional. I would support pageants if they were more "kid friendly" and focused more on the childrens talents and personalities. Although I suppose the same should be said for adult pageants as well.

Basically...I don't care for pageants. =P

I hate all types of pageants, regardless of the ages of the competitors, but pageants for young children are wrong on so many levels. I would assume that most of the time, the winner becomes arrogant and those who don't win have their self-confidence diminished; not to mention the fact that it's a haven for paedophiles. Furthermore, pre-pubescent girls shouldn't be this concerned with their looks, and neither should their parents or anyone else.

okays

ds there are a lot of things a child or an adult can do where being slim is a requirement and while i am aware the lack of diversity is not fair and there are probably as many curvy girls winning pageants as there are short basketball players it is again just something specific to this. If the child wanted to be a ballet dancer they would also have to be very thin, if they wanted to be....i dunno a jockey again they would have to be really thin, obviously not for looks for weight issues but you get my point does not mean to say it will cause the child harm any more than another hobbie where they are pressured to look a certain way like the ones mentioned above, does not mean they should not do it. Also there are a number of factors that would cause such a serious self image issue or eating disorder it would never be one thing like this.

Hey I was always in pageants and I see nothing wrong with it personally.

I think they were benificial because they made me feel like I had a purpose... made me more competitive... not afraid of performing in public.. and always focused on the goal that I want to achieve. Winning pageants were probably some of the most memorable moments of my childhood and they gave me an opportunity to show off my talents, gain confidence, and also to learn to accept the fact that I cant win everything all the time :)

As many of you have already said, this really sends out the wrong message. Kids shouldn't be fretting over their beauty in this way, they should be enjoying their life free from worries for as long as they can.

Yes, there are pageants for older people, but these people are (usually) more emotionally stable than these kids and can handle not winning (bar a knock to the ego for some). But kids will come home disappointed, thinking they are not pretty enough. If they are doing this because of pushy parents then that's also wrong because the kid would end up feeling worse, as if they have disappointed their parents.

I won't deny that there are certain circumstances where the child comes out a 'better person' in the end, so to speak, but a majority of the time it does more harm than good.

What happened to 'perfect as they are'? They are children, not Barbie dolls. Treat them with respect and dignity.

'but a majority of the time it does more harm than good.'

Where did you get that? I mean, did you read some statistics concerning this?

yup i agree with sapp your hear many horror stories about adult models becoming anorexics but i have never heard of child pageant horror stories so exactly what is this harm?

and yes perfect as they are is a good message so why not let the show themselves

I hate how TLC made a show on young girls doing pageants.
I think if it's a passion, a good age to start would be 11 or 12. But only if the girl asks her parents and her parents will help her to grow up and learn from the hurt.

oooo would be nice if you could find us a clip of this show for the debate :)

link

I think when its a bit of fun it's all good.
But when its taken too far, it must really damage these kids. That's wrong.

Unless the child actually wanted to do it. Half the time, it is the parent's wish.

It seems kind of creepy to me. Actually, pageants in general seem kind of creepy to me. But I have issues with very young kids playing competitive sports in general. The last thing we need is to teach kids to be more competitive.

If children wanna do it, why not? Wish my mom had done it with me, and I will ask my daughter if she wanna do it. It's exactly the same with dancing. You have to be tanned, smile and be pretty.

I think that if both the mother and child(ren) are interested in the paegent, and it isn't a scenario where the mother just wants to control her kid's life, then why not?

I don't know that the question is so black and white as to have only two possible answers...I definitely lean towards disliking the whole thing, but I don't know that it should be outlawed or anything like that. :/ It's one thing is a kid genuinely wants to do this (or modeling or anything else) voluntarily and have enthusiasm for it...then more power to them, I guess...but if it's being forced upon them and taken to extremes and they're learning all sorts of seriously outdated, backward, messed-up things, and just generally unhappy...then of course you can see the problem with it. Not that there can't be positive aspects, of course, but...