Children today are surrounded by sex. There is no innocence anywhere. The boundary between childhood and adulthood has become blurred.
Recent research by Mintel shows that most seven-to ten-year-old girls wear make-up sometimes; 83 per cent use nail polish; 66 per cent use lipstick.
The research also reveals that girls as young as seven are deciding whether to pursue education or a boyfriend. Children are being researched and targeted by manufacturers enticing them into the pseudo-mature world of make-up and sexually provocative clothing. If we add to this that many nine-year-olds have begun puberty, many playworkers feel they are dealing with 'teenagers at ten'.
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