Since when has “pimping out” your kids become acceptable behavior?
On the main road into Salem, which is both Route 114 and North Street, there is a large car wash. As you might expect on Sunday mornings, it’s not too busy so the owners generously allow charitable groups—sports teams, youth groups, and so on—to conduct charity car washes. The kids do all the labor and they get a sizable cut of the proceeds.
Now, in order to bring in the customers at this slow time (and let’s just skip for now the discussion about more and more events taking up what was once the sacred Sunday morning church time), some of the kids stand out on the street with signs and gesticulate and plead with passing motorists to pull in.
It all sounds so innocent and wholesome so far, doesn’t it? It would except that nearly invariably the kids chosen for the enticement duty are teenage girls in bathing suits or halter tops and shorts. Madison Avenue has taught them well: Sex sells.
What really bugs me are the parents, especially the dads. Are fathers okay with this these days? I would never, ever allow my daughter to be used as some kind of sexual advertising gimmick for anything, charity or no.
Yet you see folks who are apparently okay with it.
As a society we’ve hypersexualized our children, yet we’re shocked that the moral fabric is decaying. We allow them to be used in a sexual manner to peddle a product, yet we’re surprised when perverts prey on them.
Here’s my message to all you dads out there: Don’t let your kids be used this way. (And this isn’t limited to girls either; your sons should not be used in this manner either.)
Children do not exist for the gratification of adults, in any way, shape, or form. Protect your kids from it.
Technorati Tags: teens | car wash | charity | advertising | parenting |
You take an unpopular stand against such things here. Thank you for doing so. Few do.
My daughter’s school was doing a car wash once, and the girls were all dressed modestly. It was the rule. Another high school had one kitty-corner, with cheerleaders etc. A nice older couple stopped at my daughter’s car wash and gave them $20. Didn’t even ask for a wash … they were just grateful there are still good kids out there.
Disgusting, Dom, but true. You’re absolutely right – there’s no way I’d let my daughter parade around like these girls do. And I make sure to let my dislike of these antics be heard in the car so she knows where I stand on things like that, and she’s only 5. There’s no sense in trying to start teaching them about the invaluable gift their life and their body is when they’re a teenager and have already absorbed what society is soaking them with – you need to start them early!
How many of these poor girls have no dads at home to care?
I agree. When my all girls Catholic high school decided to do a car Wash-a-thon, Sr. Regina made sure to tell us to wear our swimsuits and tell all of our male friends at our brother school to come on out and get their cars washed. I was disgusted (and outspoken- 17 year-olds know everything, don’t they?). I remember loudly asking why we didn’t just do a Whore-a-thon to make even more money? I am not as hot-tempered and outspoken these days, but my sentiment remains. No girls should be asked to do this, let alone Catholic schools girls.
My local high school does the exact same bloody thing.
There is probably NOTHING that pi**es me off more than the whoring of teenage and younger girls, and I don’t even HAVE a daughter, but I do have three sons, the eldest being 12. This bull*hit with girls traipsing around half dressed, car wash optional, kills me, and really runs counter to the prioroty that we want to place on the virtue or purity as my wife and I raise them. Our Lady of Fatima told us in pretty clear terms about the consequences of impurity.
The parents of these kids are ignorant cowards, adolescents raising adolescents.
Our culture sexualizes children, and then wonders why we suffer crises of date rape and teen pregnancy.
In our community it’s not just the girls. The guys wear shorts and hold their signs so that it completely covers their shorts, giving the impression that they are standing on the corner naked with just a piece of cardboard covering their giblets.
This is no joke. And sometimes it’s entirely accidental. The young adults are wearing regular summer clothing, standing on the sidewalks, cheerleading cars to the car wash, and leering guys drive by and yell obscene things at them! The teens are young and pretty and WET, and WHAT were we thinking???
Scary public reaction didn’t occur to me until it happened one year at our Youth Ministry Car Wash. Big whoops!!! Not a good idea these days.
It goes far beyond that. Even little girls wear very skimpy outfits for cheer, pompom squad and so on, and the choreography can be embarrassing. It’s sad that people nowdays think this is appropriate. It’s not something I’d allow my daughters to participate in either.