And the Winner Is…Not the Children

And the Winner Is…Not the Children Kofi Annan believes, “There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that can grow up in peace”(Annan). Beauty pageants do not protect children’s rights nor from danger. Children and toddlers involve in beauty pageants are sorrowful because the parents are living their lives for them.

Beauty pageants have cause children to have abnormal developments, social relationships conflicts, appearance conflicts, and emotional or behavioral problems (Eder). The parents of the children in beauty pageants do not see the negative effects pageants have on their kids because parents focus on their whims (Eder). Beauty pageants are terrible for the children because they change mentally and physically, discontinue pleasure from childhood, and lead to fragile endings. Beauty pageants are admired in society because parents and children enjoy them and think they are benefiters or harmless.

Children like beauty pageants because they are able to play dress up (Eder). Parents and society believe beauty pageants help children develop self-assurance and confidence (Harris). Parents are able to benefit from beauty pageants by earning money. Parents try to help children gain social skills through beauty pageants. Children may state that they are in beauty pageants because their parents forced them. These beliefs may appear to be good reasons to participate in beauty pageants, but it puts the children in danger. Pageants have several negative effects that impact children’s lives that are internal.

One negative effect is social relationships conflicts. Beauty pageants take the children‘s attention away from school and peers. This may cause mental health issues. A third negative effect is appearance conflicts. Some children have a lack of self-esteem because there is constant pressure to look better (Mann). Children are more focused on their looks in comparison to others instead of their worth and who they are (Mann). A final negative effect is emotional and behavioral problems. Beauty pageants cause too many potential problems to allow them to continue. Children who compete in beauty pageants have also experience physical causes.

Tanning, surgeries, and makeup cause skin problems for the children in the future. Parents may think this is helping the children; it is harming them. Tanning causes wrinkles and cancer. Surgeries can change appearance before children are finished growing or can deform if not done properly. Makeup causes skin problems. Children may use diet pills because of their body image (Mann). Children also may become bulimic or anorexic because of pressure to compete (Mann). In beauty pageants, there are many threats acting on children’s bodies and lives to allow pageants to continue.

Children and parents may enjoy and think pageants are good but they are not. Scammed by beauty organizers and society because of the pressures put on the children to be beautiful. Maybe a limit or judgment should be acted on beauty pageants (Harris). Such as no makeup before the age of thirteen or eliminate contests entirely for children until they are teenagers (Harris). In the view of Annan, he suggests society should respect children’s rights and protect them from fear and danger. Children’s lives are in society’s hands. Children deserve their childhoods, which would make them all winners. Works Cited Dittrich, .