should children be given the right to choose what to wear???
By samruchika
@samruchika (43)
India
January 31, 2007 4:55am CST
hey would u give away your child his rights to dress up according to their wish....it is seen that generally moms decide for their children what to wear for what occasion...what to buy and what not.....is this idea feasible enough in todays world's.....children are getting smart per day...what do u say???
2 responses
@slasheuse (79)
•
31 Jan 07
My mum always chose my clothes for me, but then as a small child I wasn't very interested in what I wore, beyond the fact that I wanted to be comfortable. And, er, liked pink a lot!
I think that the danger of letting kids decide for themselves what to wear while they're still very small is that it makes them more and more image-conscious, which can be dangerous and lead to both the overt sexualisation of children and also body issues in later life.
Also, kids don't have sensible ideas about what to wear, a lot of the time; they don't know what goes with what, but, more importantly, they don't understand about some clothes being for "best" and how accordingly you have to be careful not to get them dirty. That's not meant to be restrictive as much as an acknowledgment that some clothes cost more than others, you know? And kids do need some good stuff (for weddings or parties), so letting them mess that up on a daily basis doesn't make good financial sense, even if it is their favourite t-shirt or whatever. Also, few children are sensible enough to choose the right clothes in terms of warmth - they'd rather wear something pretty or fun than a boring, but warm sweater and anorak.
I think it's good to give choices, like saying "do you want to wear this or this today?". That gets the kid involved, but keeps essential control with the parent. Also, if your child genuinely doesn't care what they wear, it seems stupid to introduce them to the idea that clothes are a really big issue any earlier than is necessary - they'll start worrying about what to wear, and how they look soon enough.