From Educators:
“Watching
Sext Up Kids is like donning high-tech goggles that reveal a grid of laser beams invisible to the naked eye. Where before we saw the occasional provocative product or disturbing sexualized image, we now see the intricate hypersexual framework of a very serious social problem. This movie is essential viewing for anyone who cares about girls’ sexual health and well-being.”
– Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed,D. | Professor of Education at Colby College | Author of
Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers’ Schemes | Co-founder of the Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge (SPARK) Movement
“
Sext Up KIDS takes an unflinching look at the issues girls confront every day in the contemporary hyper-mediated sexual environment. By opening up discussions of these crucial topics, it will be an invaluable teaching tool.”
– Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Ph.D. | Professor of Communication at the University of Iowa | Author of
The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It
“
Sext Up KIDS, starting with the ‘princess obsession’ at age two, effectively demonstrates how growing girls are bombarded by television, songs, music videos, clothing ads, and all forms of social media to believe that what matters most is how they look and how ‘hot’ they are. Through interviews with kids, teachers and other experts,
Sext Up KIDS shows how these hypersexualized images are damaging the emotional health of both girls and boys.”
– Dr. Anita Gurian | Clinical Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | NYU School of Medicine
“Straightforward, powerful, and chilling, this precise and factual film gets to the point immediately: what I called ‘the triple bind’ — which includes the huge sexualization of young teen girls — is happening ever earlier, with devastating consequences.
Sext Up KIDS is a needed slap in the face, which needs to be seen by the entire culture.”
– Dr. Steven Hinshaw | Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley | Author of
The Triple Bind: Saving Our Teenage Girls from Today’s Pressures
“The film
Sext Up KIDS offers an honest, accurate and sensitive portrayal of the sexualization of girlhood. By offering a compelling description of why and how this phenomenon has occurred, the researchers are able to effectively explain how girlhood is changing in contemporary culture. Moreover, the film cohesively identifies the potential long-term, social and emotional consequences for both girls and boys. Through real world examples, this film addresses the negative media messages about girls and highlights strategies for combating the negative stereotypes that are conveyed to girls and boys. This film is a must-see for educators, parents, social activists, mental health professionals, and youth.”
– Jennifer R. Curry, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at Louisiana State University | School Counseling Program Coordinator
“Contemporary culture seems uniquely designed to squander the greatest gift that evolution has proffered: an extended childhood. The costs — for both girls and boys — are clearly enumerated in
Sext Up KIDS through compelling images and thoughtful commentary. In this remarkable documentary, we see the ways in which girls are objectified by media, advertising, public policy, and the adults who are supposed to protect them. But we also come to understand that girls are not just unwitting victims; they readily participate in their own objectification. The truth is, old heterosexist scripts for popularity and success haven’t changed much. As
Sext Up KIDS demonstrates, we should be concerned that girls so often understand their sexual identity from the outside — as a kind of performance. The solution is more adult presence, and willingness on the part of parents, educators, counselors, and others, to listen to, and see them whole. When girls feel connected to safe adults, they are better able to give voice to their own subjective experiences, and to resist the depersonalization and heartache so wrenchingly depicted in this excellent film.”
– Martha Straus, Ph.D. | Professor of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University New England | Author of
Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Intervention and Hope
“This excellent documentary is unsettling, provocative, and very important. It does a masterful job of bringing attention to the sexualization of girls and increasingly -- younger children -- a disturbing trend for which children are emotionally unprepared, and of which many parents are unaware. This important film is a must-see for parents and teachers. Sex educators can use the film as a vehicle for stimulating discussion and raising awareness.”
– Dr. Judith C. Daniluk | Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia
“This riveting, frank exploration of the KAGOY (Kids Are Getting Younger Older) phenomenon takes adults into the real world of our children and teens -- a world in which pop culture has become porn culture and tolerance for sexual imagery is at an all-time high. Particularly provocative are the voices of the girls themselves who talk candidly -- often disturbingly so -- about the sexual violence (e.g., aggravated sexting) pervasive in their technology-saturated everyday lives. It’s an eye-opening, must see film for any adult working with children and adolescents.”
– Natalie G. Adams | Professor of Education at the University of Alabama | Author of
Cheerleader: An American Icon and Geographies of Girlhood: Identity-In Between
“
Sext Up Kids: How Are Children Becoming Hypersexualized provides realistic, current information regarding the hypersexualization of children and adolescents through exposure to and interaction with media and social media. This is a must-see for parents, teachers, counselors and anyone working with children and adolescent to learn more, inform others, and prevent at-risk behaviors.”
– Shannon Trice-Black, Ph.D., LPC | Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at the College of William and Mary | Co-author of
Girls in Real Life Situations
“
Sext Up Kids takes a paralyzing look at the media’s pornification and over-sexualization of our current generation of youth. As a school counselor, I have seen countless students make life-altering mistakes due to confusing media messages and relentless peer pressure. Additionally, parents often believe ‘my child would never do that!’ This documentary is an asset to educators and parents in order to help raise awareness to provoke change.”
– Julia V. Taylor | Dean of Student Services for the Wake Young Women’s Leadership Academy | Author of
G.I.R.L.S: Group Counseling Activities for Enhancing Social and Emotional Development
“From toddlers to teenagers, from looking pretty to being hot and sexy at an earlier and earlier age, this film explores the sexualization of femininity and girl culture in America today. The film demonstrates how the dominant media images and performances of femininity which are consumed by both boys and girls, affect both in different ways — although girls in a more oppressive way than boys. The dominant or mainstream narrative of girl culture is about becoming ‘sext up,’ and it is not surprising that girls are sex-texting as a way of objectifying themselves for boys’ gaze. The film suggests that while much has changed in the way of ‘positive’ female characters in Hollywood, in some important ways things are getting worse, that young girls are being sexualized for adult audiences and for girl audiences in ways that are deeply troubling. The call is for educators to help young people critically read media texts, to deconstruct and de-code the way they represent gender and sexuality.”
– Dennis Carlson | Professor of Cultural Studies of Education at Miami University | Author of
The Education of Eros: A History of Education and the Problem of Adolescent Sexuality
“The film captures current cultural messages around the sexualization of girlhood, and carefully examines the negative impact of popular culture on both girls and boys. The film’s premise -- that the youngest girls are jumping from ‘toddlers to teens with nothing in between’ and that ‘popular culture has now become a reflection of porn culture’ -- is supported by countless examples such as toys and clothing sold to young girls, films and television targeted to children, advertising campaigns, music videos, and social media. From the earliest years, girls are learning that the most important way to determine their worth and value is in terms of how they appear to others. As identified in the film, today’s girls are bombarded with the message that the best way to get attention is to flaunt yourself, get noticed, to promote yourself -- and the only way to do this is by looking and acting as sexy as possible in an effort to attract boys’ attention. The film outlines how adopting these messages at an early age can negatively impact girls’ mental health and overall well-being throughout adolescence and into the early adult years. This film addresses the critical problem of early sexualization that has become so insidious it has become mainstream -- unquestioned and even promoted by parents, girls, and boys alike. While it examines multiple cultural influences on girls’ development, it also emphasizes how cultural pressures have a strikingly negative impact on boys’ development of social and relational skills. It is important that the film addresses issues related to boys’ easy access to internet pornography, and how boys in turn learn to objectify girls and regard them with less respect, thereby preventing the development of healthy relationships. I applaud the film’s approach in examining multiple facets of this problem, many of which are not typically discussed in current literature. The film addresses critical topics such as marketing schemes targeting young girls, the influence of the pornography industry on both girls and boys, the complexity of kids’ use of technology such as smart phones, and difficulties with social networking for girls who are developmentally incapable of understanding the differences between public and private. The film is an important contribution to the field and will be appreciated by educators, mental health professionals, and parents alike.”
– Laura H. Choate, Ed.D., LPC, NCC | Associate Professor of Counselor Education at Louisiana State University
From Journalists, Authors & Non-Profit Organizations:
“
Sext Up KIDS illuminates the profound, and devastating, impact our hypersexualized culture has on children and teens. Giving real-life examples of the serious ramifications for kids when their private sexual lives become public, this important new film inspires teens and parents to have strong and open communication about sexuality and healthy relationships. Powerful and heartbreaking, this is an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, professors, health care professionals, and anyone concerned about the well-being of children and teenagers.”
– Rosalind Wiseman | Author of
Queen Bees & Wannabes
“A sobering and must-see look at how an onslaught of sexualized media and marketing is undermining the healthy development of girls. I highly recommend this film for parents, activists, and media educators.”
– Josh Golin | Associate Director, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
“
Sext Up KIDS offers a clear, comprehensive and forensic dissection on how and why our children are becoming inappropriately sexualised far too soon. In a society that is sleep-walking into hypersexualisation, this is an essential wake-up call for parents and educators alike.”
– Tanith Carey | Author of
Where Has My Little Girl Gone? How to Protect your Daughter From Growing Up Too Soon
“Sext Up KIDS gives access to some of the most important information parents need to know about our tweens, teens, and sex. What this documentary is about is how severely our kids are growing up these days without any clue how to have real intimacy, real connections, with those with whom they’ll want romance. We are in a crisis, and conversations that arise from this documentary will be essential to change.”
– Kerry Cohen | Author of
Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity and Dirty Little Secrets: Breaking the Silence on Teenage Girls and Promiscuity
“A troubling juxtaposition of daunting visual images and powerful personal narratives. Should be required viewing for parents who are in the dark or in denial about the new hyper-sexualized world of teens and tweens.”
– Patrice A. Oppliger, Ph.D. | Author of
Girls Gone Skank: Sexualization of Girls in American Culture
“
Sext Up KIDS does an exemplary job connecting the dots for parents and teachers with regard to our highly sexualized culture and the impact it is having on the development of healthy sexuality in our teens. From ‘fairest of them all’ to ‘hottest girl in school’ to ‘Pornland,’ girls are learning via the media and peers that their sexuality is a performance to be judged by others, while simultaneously boys are learning that girls are sex objects who should fit a very, very narrow definition of beauty.
Sext Up KIDS shows how this impacts self esteem, peer relationships, body image, and intimacy in relationships. This film is a ‘must-see’ for parents and educators dedicated to raising healthy tweens and teens.”
– Melissa Wardy | PigtailPals
“Amidst toy aisles flooded with spindly, canted poses and mind-numbingly vapid wide-eyed, pouty-lipped, cheesy-sleasy fashionista tributes to the porn and sex trade packaged and marketed as edgy to little girls,
Sext Up KIDS brazenly shines the spotlight on hyper-sexualized imagery of manufactured ‘prosti-tots’ and ‘SesameStreetwalkers’ vamping to the cues created by media and marketing messages; a creation of our own devolved acceptance of the behemoth money machine. It’s nothing short of corporate pedophilia and voyeuristic sleaze fouling up childhood, kids’ socioemotional health, and our cultural compass as a whole.”
– Amy Jussel | Executive Director of Shaping Youth
“[
Sext Up KIDS] shows how growing up in a hyper-sexualized culture hurts our children and presents some pretty shocking stories and statistics about what tweens and teens are doing.”
– Annie Urban | Creator,
PhD in Parenting blog
“This is a very informative documentary on what we are doing to our kids -- especially the girls!!! Please watch this.”
– Sandra Finkelstein | 2BEmpowered.com
“The Media Education Foundation has performed yet another act of public service with this new hard-hitting film on the harms of sexualising children. Hypersexualised images and messages are invading and colonising public spaces and individual lives like never before. Young people are increasingly socialised and conditioned by porn-inspired scripts. They are exposed to hard-core porn often before their first kiss. Boys are being trained in a brutal and calloused version of masculinity. Girls absorb a message that they exist to provide sexual services. They are pressured to advertise their sexual attractiveness in a culture that rewards exhibitionism. The proliferation of sexual imagery is contributing to a distorted view of their bodies, relationships and sexuality. Sext Up Kids nails the dangers of a hypersexual culture to children and young people. It pulls no punches -- nor should it. Research demonstrates a raft of negative physical and mental health outcomes. I hope that
Sext Up Kids will be a catalyst for radical and global action against a pornified world so that our children can grow up free from sexploitation.”
– Melinda Tankard Reist | Author of
Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls and Co-Editor of
Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry
Press Reviews
How Bullies Thrive in a Hypersexualized Kid Culture |
The Tyee
"Takes a critical look at the increasing sexualization of young girls, drawing on comments from speakers who range from academics and media watchdogs to teen and preteens."
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Video Librarian
"It should stimulate some lively discussion about sexuality, popular culture, and the construction of childhood and adulthood. The film and other Media Education Foundation titles on gendered and sexual messages in the media make a strong case for paying more attention to culture and technology and for training young people in media literacy. Suitable for high school classes and for college courses in cultural anthropology, anthropology of sex and gender, anthropology of technology, anthropology of popular culture, and American studies, as well as general audiences."
- David Eller,
Anthropology Review Database
"Serves as an engaging and thought-provoking entrance into a conversation about the sexualization of youth for educators, students, and parents... The diversity of visual examples provided from current popular culture makes the film particularly relevant and memorable, and the inclusion of the teen voice provides authenticity and offers a glimpse of the lived experiences of adolescents."
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Journal of Children and Media
"
Sext Up Kids skillfully uses expert testimonials, statistics, and case studies to reveal significant threats to our children's mental health, physical health, and social well-being. In particular, a disturbing new set of norms have resulted in increasing numbers of tweens and teens using social media to consume and produce sexually explicit material."
- Humanity & Society | Adina Nack, Professor of Sociology, Gender and Women's Studies, California Lutheran University
"Unapologetic in its dissection of current pop culture and porn, Sext Up Kids is meant to start a dialog among classmates, between parents and kids, and the world in general. ... Highly recommended,
Sext Up Kids tackles a social issue affecting everyone and that not enough people are talking about."
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Educational Media Reviews Online
