Why 10 is the new 15: Parenting experts warns young girls are growing up faster as they are exposed to porn and wear makeup earlier than previous generations
- Young girls who use social media are likely have viewed porn and wear make-up
- Enlighten Education chief executive Dannielle Miller said 10 was the new 15
- Girls as young as 10 are pressured into appearing older than they really are
- Acquiring adult habits at a young age has mental and physical impacts on girls
Girls are growing up faster than ever before, watching pornography, discussing terrorism and wearing makeup before their teens, according to parenting experts.
Enlighten Education chief executive Dannielle Miller said 10 was the new 15 for children growing up in the age of social media.
'Girls today are dealing with increasingly adult problems but with child-like strategies to deal with them,' she told the West Australian.
'They’re exposed to porn a lot earlier than we were. They’re constantly hearing the culture around them critiquing them.'
Collective Shout campaigns manager Caitlin Roper says girls are influenced into wearing make-up from a young age because of the pressure to be sexually appealing (stock image)
Guildford Grammar School student Ella Velupillay, 11 told the publication that girls were wearing makeup at her age while Riley Wight, 12, said they often discussed terrorism and domestic violence.
Collective Shout campaigns manager Caitlin Roper told Daily Mail Australia that social media was a contributing factor to children trying to jump straight to adulthood.
'The trend is for girls to appear older than they are and the pressure is all about how you look and how hot you appear to others,' she said.
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Ms Roper said Girls were exposed to pornography at a young age because the material was becoming increasingly accessible through smart phones.
'Kids on smartphones can easily access all sorts of pornography – even the most hardcore, violent and misogynistic forms,' she said.
Ms Roper added 'softcore porn' had migrated from adult websites to advertising online, in shopping centres and on the street, increasing accessibility to the content.
Collective Shout is an Australian grassroots movement campaigning against the sexualisation of girls and women.
Girls as young as 10 are being exposed to pornography and pressured into wearing make-up (stock image)
The campaign noted global research saying young girls were becoming conditioned to view their primary value based on their sexual appeal, as a consequence of 'growing up in a high-tech culture steeped in relentlessly sexualised, sexualising and sexist messaging from media, advertising and popular culture'.
'It's a problem that girls feel pressured to wear make-up at such a young age,' Ms Roper said.
Ms Roper said the impacts of sexualisation in young girls come with a range of mental and physical problems.
'The research literature highlights a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes, including mental health problems like anxiety and depression,' she said.
'They may also feel shame and disgust about their bodies, which may lead to self-harm and eating disorders.'
Ms Roper said there was a need for parents to be more 'vigilant of the content kids are accessing online'.
'Parents are doing their best a lot of the time but it is impossible for them to monitor completely and they can't fight the $100 billion porn industry alone,' Ms Roper said.
Ms Roper is urging for the Government to employ a pornography age verification system like the UK, where viewers must prove they are at least 18 years of age.
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