If you sense considerable passion and concern in my reply you are correct. When I think of how fragile kids are as they try to find a place for themselves in this world, when I see the pain of kids (and their parents) struggling with eating disorders, when I hear teens beg me to convince their parents to let them get plastic surgery because they can't continue living looking so ugly (always compared to the popular media's presentation of what is beautiful), I think that children's beauty pageants (and this is mostly a girl's/women's issue) do a great disservice to the winners, the losers, and all children. My professional and personal hope would be that an organization such as yours would find a better way to lift up the spirit of our youth. Thank you for your consideration.
Are Beauty Pageants Bad for Children?
Carleton Kendrick has been in private practice as a family therapist and has worked as a consultant for more than 20 years. He has conducted parenting seminars on topics ranging from how to discipline toddlers to how to stay connected with teenagers. Kendrick has appeared as an expert on national broadcast media such as CBS, Fox Television Network, Cable News Network, CNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio. In addition, he's been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, USA Today, Reader's Digest, BusinessWeek, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, and many other publications.
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