The Ultimate Impact.

Our pasts become the foundations for our futures. As soon as we are born, our experiences on Earth begin to shape us, and make us into the people we grow up to be. Psychologists as early as Freud have proven that childhood affects adulthood. We are alive and we grow, our brains absorbing in everything around us and every miniscule piece of information we gain affecting who we are. We become who we are from what we know, and what we see; shaping our beliefs and standards on all the experience we have obtained and making sense of present situations from what we’ve already learnt. Our personalities thrive on our lives, as we become individual people, each with our own perspectives on the world we have came to know. We grow from the world, but what are our children being exposed to? Take a look at the world are future generations are being brought up in.

Everything that happens affects us, even a simple children’s TV show can have such a vast negative outcome. Tom and Jerry, a classical comic cartoon of a cat and mouse forever at war displays to our children a range of violent acts. Our children’s channels are full of violence and fighting, some could even be deemed disturbing. Yet we see such programmes as harmless cartoons, not realising that we are brining our children up with violence and understanding what effect this may have on them. Why do we allow our children to learn violence at such a young age? Young boys especially take a licking to weaponry, explosions, gore, violence and villains. They often think of these topics as “cool” which is considered “normal” for all boys to watch and enjoy. Is this what we want our children to base their lives on? Entertainment through violence? Imagine how this can affect them as a person, let alone their current life and adulthood. Production companies therefore make more violent programmes, often increasing the levels of violence to appeal to their bloodthirsty audience in order to gain views.

Children learn that these violent shows are considered enjoyable to watch, and so they sit on their sofas and learn to relish in the bloodshed on the screens. Do I appear too uptight and unrealistic? Perhaps you should watch the level of violence displayed and count the amount of unsuitable material is broadcasted to your vulnerable children. Similar to the butterfly effect ,(a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world, a hurricane is created in another) these minuscule things our children see everyday are absorbed into their brains and self conscious’s which could affect them later on. Today they watch violence, maybe one day they will be on the news due to theirs. Seeds are planted.

Children are raised and indoctrinated as soon as they are old enough to understand. Supposedly many Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews, in order to glorify “jihad” (holy war), violence, death and child martyrdom almost from birth, as an essential part of their culture and destiny. This is just one mere example of harmful views being opposed on children. Good and evil are a point of view. Children are being taught violence, racism and wrongdoings from the start of their lives. A popular phrase is “these are the children of the future”. Do we really want them to see the world through disappointed eyes, full of fear, hate and bitterness? The fruit rots before it can ripen.

Some children gain a negative perspective on the world and have to struggle and suffer each day on earth. According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. Their lives are at peril and stunted before they’ve even had the chance to thrive. They learn the world is cruel and full of selfish injustice. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are: 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3), 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5) and 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7). 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy.) 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized. Nobody should live like this, children come into the world to die or enter a life that can be viewed as not worth living.

What lives are these for people so precious? Of the 50 million refugees and displaced people in the world, at an estimate half are children. War is the primary factor in the creation of child refugees. In the last decade, war has killed more than 2 million children, wounded another 6 million, and orphaned approximately 1 million. Children also flee their homes because they fear various forms of abuse such as rape, sexual slavery, and child labour.

In the Philippines, UNICEF estimated that there are 60,000 child prostitutes and many of the 200 brothels in the notorious Angeles City offer children for sex. The median age for entering into prostitution among all children interviewed was 13 years. An estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world, according to the International Labour Organization. Of these, 120 million children are working full time to help support their impoverished families forced child laborers work in conditions that have no resemblance to a free employment relationship. They receive little or no pay and have no control over their daily lives. They are often forced to work beyond their physical capacity and under conditions that seriously threaten their health, safety and development. In many cases their most basic rights, such as freedom of movement and expression, are suppressed. They are subject to physical and verbal abuse. Even in cases where they are not physically confined to their workplace, their situation may be so emotionally traumatizing and isolating that once drawn into forced labour they are unable to conceive of a way to escape. Imagine the impact on youth forced into a lifestyle they never deserved. They have learnt poor behaviour before constructive morals and so may base their values and behaviour on the previous.

So many children suffer at such an early age, they deserve so much more. The prevalence of childhood neglect ranged from 3.2% in New Hampshire, United States, to 10% in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 19.4% in Singapore, and 36.4% in Pusan, Korea. Abused children can be severely abused mentally as well as physically. Some even becoming abusers themselves as they have learnt this behaviour form their parents.Around the world, children are singled out for recruitment by both armed forces and armed opposition groups, and exploited as combatants. Approximately 250,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts around the world, and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time. Although most child soldiers are between 15 and 18 years old, significant recruitment starts at the age of 10 and the use of even younger children has been recorded. Children who are too young to marry, finish school, start their own families or even fully understand war, are given guns and the pressures of life and death.

However, could exposing our children to the harsh realities of life give them a realistic perspective? It could teach children that we need change and justice, and motivate them to aim to create a better future. For example, in the 20th centenary, we switched from Oliver Twist/Jane Eyre-style tyrannical abusive treatment of children to one in which children are cared for and even indulged. Could this be due to the children not wanting to treat their own offspring in such an abusive manner, thus creating a child-rearing revolution? It could still be argued that children are too young to comprehend and cope with such evils of the world and that their innocence should be maintained for as long as possible before gently introducing them to world dilemmas.

Childhood is an amazing experience of growth and personal development. Why do we have to taint such amazing beauty? We welcome our future generations into a world full of hardship and wrongdoing and teach them the same values that caused these problems in the first place. What a fantastic first impression! We are striving for change in an oppressive world, but how can anything change if we keep child upbringing the same? Such a warm welcome greets those entering the world. How can we expose our children to such evil before they learn the good? What’s more important than the start of life?

fashion victims caught up in the media's spotlights.

We are the real fashion victims, defenceless and permanently exposed to adverts that lower our self-esteem and create “problems” with the way we look to sell us their “solutions”. Our appearances judged and ridiculed by an unseen board of judges who “know” what “beautiful” looks like. Everyone is a contestant in this everyday beauty pageant we call our everyday lives. What good does beauty do?

From the moment we wake we are brainwashed and demoted to an ordinary and insignificant member of this world of vanity. We eat our breakfasts, with the option of choosing the low fat” special K” cornflakes. The box has an immaculate woman on the front with a desirable figure every woman is meant to aim for in order to be seen as beautiful and sexy. As we saviour our bland and demoralising meal,we read the newspapers or perhaps a magazine; our eyes captivating hundreds of images of the ideal appearance. After realising that our own bodies are pale in comparison, we make sure our hair is perfectly straightened before even comprehending the outfit we shall wear or how to have our makeup. At the mirror we compare our visage and wrinkles to the hundreds of other woman we have already seen today before trying to conceal as many flaws as we can. We sit in shame at our unworthiness. Before we leave we begin trying on various outfits and failing to look as toned or slim as we wish. We “make do” and put on the garments that look the best on ourselves but are just not good enough. We surrender and leave the house knowing we are not as radiant as the many people we see on the TV and realise that our wrinkles are only deepening. We travel to work passing hundreds of advertisements on the way, another reminder of our imperfections we didn’t know we has until they were pointed out to us. And the day has begun as bitter as the Coffey and as vain as the billboards intend.

There is a saying that flaws shall forever remain beautiful. A freckled face is unique and spectacular, a head of curly hair is lively and full of volume and isn’t a laughter line just character to a smiling face? Yet a person with deep extraordinary eyes can replace them with coloured contacts, because apparently blue eyes are better than brown. How fickle. Our own perception on beauty has been distorted and we are the products of a manipulating business world that makes us loathe our unique and rapturous selves for the simple, cold aim of making a profit.

We have entered the 21st century, a time for outstanding technology and science to progress beyond the belief of those who lives a hundred years ago. We know far more about cosmetic technology and so can create improved products that are far more efficient. Our lipsticks stay on for longer and make our lips physically bigger whilst our waterproof foundations conceal any freckle or blemish the eye can see. Even the most minor alterations can be achieved with products such as eye whiteners, nail files, cuticle creams and spot sticks. Our bodies can also be altered with cosmetic surgery to help us with our stomachs which are slightly larger than we wish or breasts which aren’t quite the perfect size and shape. These many million methods of self improvement are mass produced and packaged onto store shelves, promising to help us become immaculate. Would we have accepted and loved ourselves if we had no option for such a drastic change?

We are also bombarded with millions of product advertisements for hair treatment, diet pills, makeup and skincare products, the list appears almost infinite. These ready made “solutions” constantly thrust towards us that are said to demolish or conceal our imperfections and thus aiding our newly gained insecurities or low self esteem until we recognise yet another flaw upon ourselves. it’s a never thirst for impeccable faultlessness.

We cover spots up with foundation. Foundation that clogs pores and created more spots to cover. In turn we purchase more foundation and now in addition, some spot treatments. We camouflage our wrinkles with a mixture of creams and lotions, which in turn only fill the dents and widen them.We are making ourselves ugly by wearing makeup, and then cover up these flaws with more purchases. We have lost logic to our need for beauty. And how many teenagers suffer from eating disorders or low self esteem? The Impact of societies’ vanity has became overwhelming. We create our own imperfections.

Actors with glossy hair and gleaming teeth entertain us in the evenings. Their fashionable clothes and incredible faces are flaunted in front of us on these tall, small-wasted women. Its impossible not to compare yourselves to these God-like beings. However, we are unfortunately naive. Not only are these image icons picked out and have their entire outside metamorphosed by a team of the best image consultants, they are then filmed and airbrushed until they appear so perfect they no longer resemble the naturally appealing humans they once were. These alien, pour-less faces stare back at us and make us feel unworthy. Of course we cannot compare to something so artificial and unreal.

Do we not also reinforce this vain and critical lifestyle? We are permanent commentators on appearance. We notice everything, from greasy hair to un-plucked eyebrows and relish in pointing these tiny defects to the others around us. We relish another’s downfall as it means we are surrounded by others facing the same image tribulations. And when somebody reaches our high standards? We merely feel jealous or lowlier. We have became hypocritical arrogant beings, self-obsessed and searching others with a keen eye.

We are left, desperately reaching for a false, unobtainable beauty, with nothing but our products and minuscule respect for ourselves. As the love for ourselves rapidly diminishes, the business world thrives on our insecurities and the money we have aimlessly spent in this cycle. Money that in no doubt, will fund the next product launch or advertising campaign. And what shall we do about this? I don’t know, but I need to carry out my skincare routine before I get my beauty sleep.