Are parents really that naive?

I can’t believe I’m the only person who is really tired of seeing the flagrant disregard for modesty that has not crept, but literally burst into our society. Some days I swear if I see one more bare midriff on a 40 year old woman, I’m going to scream. I can not tell you how many times I have walked back to my office and almost pounded my head against the wall for having to tell a 50+ year old woman that it’s not appropriate to dress like a hoochie mama in a healthcare facility. Yet more often than not, I can’t leave the house without seeing someone dressed inappropriately for anything other than a pajama party.

Today I spent the day at an athletic tournament. It was almost impossible to look down the bleachers and find a backside that wasn’t exposed. I hear people complaining from time to time (not often enough) that children’s clothing is no longer appropriate for children, but I would maintain that most of what I see isn’t appropriate for adults either.

I’m not super-spiro by any stretch of the imagination and I’m not suggesting women should be buttoned to their chin and flanked to their ankles, but I (and most of my friends) manage to find contemporary clothing that is classy and hip and maintains a level of modesty that leaves something for the imagination. So, the problem is not that the clothing is not available.

Of course clothing (or lack of it) is only the tip of the iceberg. There are a number of things I see more and more of which make me wonder when we, as a society, stopped caring about ourselves and our image so much that what was once “freakish” is now perfectly acceptable – not only among adults, but children too.

Do people really not know the message their children are sending when they represent their family in the attire and accessories the vast majority of young adults are sporting these days? Could they really be that naïve or do they just not care?

During today’s tournament, I began to make a mental list of the appalling sights in the gymnasium. I thought it might prove to be a good exercise to list some of the things that parents evidently don’t consider when they let their kids out of the house looking the way some of these kids do. And please feel free to take notes if you’re an adult and any of these things apply to you.

First (and one of the most important), if you can not sit down without mooning anyone who might be sitting behind you – the rise on your pants is too low. Most people would agree that it’s not o.k. to pull your pants down in public and wouldn’t want their child to do it either, but that’s exactly what you are doing when you wear low-rise pants that show your buttocks when you sit.

Second…as if “belly shirts” weren’t bad enough – what are parents thinking when they allow their teenaged (and some times younger) daughters to also ROLL DOWN the top of their sweats/warm-ups/shorts to expose even MORE skin? The only time it’s appropriate to see a belly is at the beach – and even then, I usually see more of them that shouldn’t be exposed than those that could. Guess what??? If I can see your hip-bones, I’m seeing too much.

Third…when someone walks by you with something written across their behind, where do you look? At their behind! Has it really not occurred to you that you’re inviting people to look at your child’s butt by allowing them to wear clothing with words scrolled across it? Speaking of words….things like, “juicy”, “hot”, Lonely and Looking”, “kiss me while my boyfriend isn’t looking”, “Girl Scouts Gone Wild”, and “I taught your boyfriend that thing you like” are an invitation to every weirdo in the vicinity “chase my sleazy daughter!”. Is that what you intended when you bought it?

Fourth…and this one is really blowing my mind. The last several sporting events I’ve attended have had Mardi Gras beads for purchase. Today, literally hundreds of children and adults were wearing the beads made available by the vendors. While many of the children (some of them as young as 7/8) would be oblivious to the behavior those beads represent – there’s no way I can believe that the parents and those selling the beads are not aware of it. Before you jump all over me and say that the beads are thrown from parade floats during Mardi Gras, to anyone who holds their arms out – give me a break. When people see the beads, they are not thinking about innocent fun, are they?

Fifth….and final….and I’m going to keep this one brief and to the point. Tongue piercing is not a form of expression…unless you consider “enhancing sexual pleasure” to be a form of expression. If you daughter (or son) has pierced her/his tongue – I hope you’re absolutely positive where he/she is every moment. If you believe it was done strictly as a fashion statement – trust me, the pervert salivating at the sight of a stud in your daughter’s tongue won’t care why she got it.

So, to re-cap…

1. Say no to crack.
2. Bellies are for the beach.
3. Words belong in a book (or a blog).
4. Beads are for boobies.
5. Jewelry is a choking hazard.

Class dismissed.

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