The Abstinence Clearinghouse Blog

If you haven’t seen the YouTube video of five young girls entitled “Little Girls Going Hard on Single Ladies” maybe you should take a look; not in my mind for enjoyment, but to see what we are becoming as a society.   The video is a dance routine presented in a contest that is a take on Beyoncè’s video of her hit “Single Ladies” and has had over 2 million hits thus far.

These five girls are 7-years-old.  Only seven and their parents think that it is alright for their daughters to dress in costumes that look like glorified lingerie and perform an extremely suggestive adult routine.  I won’t comment on their abilities as dancers, but I will comment on how inappropriate I think the presentation is. 

Their dress is signaling to these young girls and others that “modesty” has no place in modern society.  They look like dancers from some seedy bar on the wrong side of the tracks.  The “bumps and grinds” choreographed in the performance look more like something from an “R” rated movie.  There is absolutely no innocence of childhood for these little girls—for that’s what they truly are, just little girls.

Was the eye only on the prize when this dance was formulated?  Why wasn’t someone thinking that by parading them out on a stage in this manner, then putting the video up on YouTube and advertising them to the world, that they were exposing them to all manner of dangers?

How easy is it for a predator to look up the dance contest and find out the names of the performers and the location of dance studio they represented?  How easy to go online and find out addresses, school districts and information about their parents? 

Are today’s parents more interested in their children gaining a trophy than being safe? Or, are they living vicariously through their children’s fame so much that they simply aren’t thinking about the physical danger and emotional damage they are doing to them only the glory.

Our children are our greatest gift.  As parents we are to protect them, guide them and make their world a safe haven.  We are to instill in them values and self-respect and healthy attitudes; I do not believe this dance reflects any of these. 

I hope that many who look at this video will see the negatives and learn from it.  I hope that they will stop and think about how their children can be perceived and harmed by putting them out in public in this fashion.  I hope that they will remember that their children are the “prize” and make sure that they are protected and loved.  Most of all I hope, that these five young ladies this vulgar display.