How to protect your child from hypersexualized dance

Have you ever felt uncomfortable watching your child perform a dance routine? How can you protect your child if they perform something that hypersexualizes your child?

When it comes to keeping your child safe, not only are you focusing on their physical well being, but you are focusing on their emotional well being. You want your child's performances to demonstrate a healthy view of both the art of dance AND what is good for them. While many of you have probably seen a children's dance that disturbs you, perhaps you didn't know what you could do about it.

Not sure if your child's dance studio is teaching healthy or harmful dance? Here are 5 ways you can protect your child and keep their passion of dance age appropriate:

Identify the hypersexualized dance

Music, costumes and choreography go hand-in-hand in the hypersexualization of your child. If they are wearing costumes that have to be glued on, bra tops, or anything you would see in a strip club, then it's hypersexualized. If the music is sexually suggestive, it's hypersexualized. If the choreography licks fingers, grabs or smacks the booty, or slides the hand down the leg in a suggestive movement, it's hypersexualized.

In other words, if you wouldn't perform to that song, wear that outfit, or dance that way, I am sure you wouldn't want your child doing it either.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Learn how to pick a healthy dance studio. Learn how to avoid a harmful dance studio or how to communicate with them when this occurs.

Do your homework. Visit the studio during children's dance lessons. The atmosphere should be loving and the communication to parents should be consistent and open. As a parent, you should be able to ask questions about any aspect of a dance class without feeling awkward. The environment should be welcoming!

Call or visit your local dance studio and ask what the studio's position is on teaching hypersexualized versus age-appropriate dance. A good question: "What is your philosophy about the use of adult costumes, choreography and music for children enrolled at this dance studio?"

If you are able to observe a lesson, what is being taught? Is the choreography true to the art form of dance, or does it seem sexualized and inappropriate for children? Or attend one of the studio's dance recitals. This will take a little pre-planning, but it is one of the most telling ways to see firsthand if a studio teaches healthy or harmful children's dance. Look for hypersexualized movements, costumes, and /or music in the show.

TALK TO YOUR TEACHER / STUDIO OWNER

What should I do if my child is receiving dance lessons from a studio that teaches harmful dance? First, gather factual information to share with the dance studio owner.

Just because pop culture is normalizing hypersexualization, you can't! It's important to understand that, as the years pass, your child will eventually be influenced by the dance studio culture that they are a part of. Your child will also be seasoned by the older dance students and the leadership that they exercise. So talk to your teacher / studio owner when these moments come up, so they can address it studio wide.

START A PETITION IN YOUR COMMUNITY

The hypersexualization of children in dance won't stop until parents and concerned adults demand it. It's easy to share this information with friends and family and facilitate change in your community. Collect signatures from other people that want to stop the hypersexualization of children in dance in your community. In addition to you, the signed names will show a dance studio owner that many people are concerned about this issue and want it changed. We've created a template you can quickly download and use to start a petition in your community.

FIND A STUDIO THAT LETS KIDS BE KIDS

Healthy dance studios do the obvious. As a young dancer takes classes, children engage in an age-appropriate curriculum and develop more advanced technical skills year by year. Adult sexualized movement content is nowhere to be seen. In fact, the new trend in children's dance is full leotards, where kids can dress like kids.

Many excellent studios, educational institutions, and recreational dance facilities have technical goals that serve to advance a child to the next level. Age-appropriate dance studios don't focus on having a certain body type; they don't compare children negatively and they don't value winning a competition above nurturing each student for their individual strengths.

We know that your child's development is your top priority. It's ours too. Join our award winning school, voted Best Studio for 16 years in a row, and CHANGE YOUR CHILD'S LIFE THROUGH DANCE!