Most parents fear that sexually provocative pop stars such as Miley Cyrus and Rihanna are having a damaging effect on their children, a survey has revealed.
And a head teacher has spoken out against lewd celebrity role models, saying their behavior is leaving schoolgirls feeling “manipulated and confused.”
In a Netmums poll of 1,500 members, more than 80 percent said their children had repeated sexually explicit lyrics and copied overtly sexual dance moves after being exposed to explicit pop music.
And three-quarters admitted to trying to stop their children from watching raunchy music videos.
Most parents with daughters worried that very sexual pop acts would teach girls they would be “judged on their looks, not their achievements or personality.”
And nearly two-thirds said they thought their child might feel pressured into being sexual too soon.
About half of parents with young boys feared that explicit music videos may make their sons grow up expecting women to be “too sexually available” and that they should have “unrealistic porn-star-style body shapes.”
The findings come just days after Jo Heywood, head teacher of a £30,000-a-year ($48,000) girls’ boarding school, warned that girls were being “manipulated and confused” by stars that start out on TV as clean-cut but later become something far more sexualized.
She singled out Miley Cyrus, who shot to fame as Disney’s wholesome character Hannah Montana in 2006 but has recently been embroiled in controversy after a series of provocative performances.
Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard says, “Modern parents aren’t prudes—they know sex sells. But there’s a strong feeling that things have gone too far now. It’s toxic to tell young kids casual sex and violence are something to aspire to. Instead, if a star wants to make a statement, why not use their brain, not their body?”
