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We recently came across a post on Facebook by Nigerian pastor Ab Isong. While it was posted in 2017, it reappeared on our feeds and people have been commenting every day, some agreeing with the pastor while others felt it was out of left field to be assuming a particular picture of a child dressed in a specific way is sexy. He used the following image to prove his point:
Image shared and included in Pastor Ab Isong's post.
It's been shared more than 50 000 times with thousands of comments.
"Our children are sexy"
The post is titled "OUR CHILDREN ARE SEXY!" and begins, “Few weeks ago, I was at the local airport and as I waited in the departure lounge, I noticed there were many children roaming about but it was understandable since it was summer holiday.
"One other thing I noticed was the way most of the children were dressed. Most of them, especially the girls, were dressed in bum shorts, halter necks, cut off jeans, etc.
"The clothes in themselves weren't the issue per se; it was the overall look of the children that had me bothered. That was definitely not the first time I noticed it.
"A few months before, I had taken my kids to a birthday party and found myself in what could easily have been a night club for kids. Scanty clothing such as tight or very short clothes, bum shorts, long weaves, etc, seemed to be the dress code.”
- Also read: Lengthen your dress or wear trousers!
"Miming sexually explicit songs, running their hands over their bodies"
He continues, describing the nightclub-like scene, as they took to the dance floor, “miming the sexually explicit songs and gyrating their bodies in the most sensual manner”:
“They could have given Beyoncé a run for her money. They ran their hands over their bodies, shook their booties hard while their parents cheered them on. The boys had their upper shirts unbuttoned and rapped along perfectly to gangsta raps while doing flawless break dance.”
He says his son looked longingly at the others, which was his signal to leave, presumably fearing his son might follow suit. He later went on to explain “the concept of decency and dancing with decorum” to them.
He continues that he constantly finds himself in similar situations, having to ignore the fact that children are “made up” like “mannequins for Tara or Mac beauty products”. He describes this scene at a game arcade, commenting that little girls were wearing skirts so tight that “running up and down the slide was uncomfortable for them”.
"Why does she have to be hot or sexy?"
He asks:
“Why are we sexualizing our kids? Why does your 4-, 6- or 9-year-old girl have to look like a chick?
“Why does she have to be hot or sexy?
“Should your 8-year-old son go around with a comb in his hair and his pants sagged almost to his ankles?
“If your child wears bum shorts out of the house at age 3, why should she be expected to wear longer ones at 15?
“In this age, when children are being abused. Is it wise to make your child an object of anyone's sexual attention?”
Some lyrics teach our girls "her body is for squeezing"
He then speaks about our role as parents, saying we should be more aware of what we expose our children to. This includes playing the “sexually explicit songs” he mentioned. Of the lyrics in these songs he says they, “demean women and teach your daughter that she's just a sex toy and her body is for squeezing. It teaches the boys that money is everything and women are things to be used to satisfy their primal urges.”
So he urges: “Our children have their lives ahead of them, let's set them on the right path by teaching them to dress decently and sing nice or age-appropriate songs.
“Let your children be children. Train up a child in the way that they should go and when they are old, they would not depart from it!"
He concludes, “Studies have shown that children exposed to a high level of sexually explicit information tend to become sexually active early. Is that your goal as a parent?”
Do you agree with pastor Ab Isong?
While no parent really sets their children up to become “sexually active early”, could he be onto something, that we are allowing our children to be too “sexy” at a very young age? Or is he being overly conservative and kids should be allowed to embrace popular culture and fashion?
Send us your responses to the post and comments to chatback@parent24.com and we may publish them.
Read more:
- Don't judge me cause my kid wears PEP clothes
- Why do we still make girls wear skirts and dresses as school uniform?
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