The following letter to the editor was published in the Beach Reporter newspaper (TBRnews.com) on Thursday, March 29, 2012 in the Letters section. The Beach Reporter has a strict 250-word limit.
Unsuitable suits
Thankfully I’m the mother of two young men who have already finished high school because if I had two girls who wanted to play beach volleyball, I’d have to say no. I could only shake my head at the photo of the Mira Costa girls’ beach volleyball team. What are these parents thinking? One of these girls is a freshman; that would make her at least 14. I would be petrified to allow my 14-year-old, let alone 16 or 17, to parade around in such a revealing suit.
I get that we all live by the beach and that influences much of our lives. But where is the decorum of decency relative to age? What message are we sending these young girls? That less is better? That this is what is done on the beach? Everyone else is doing it?
We’re not talking about adults who play on the beach with skimpy suits; these girls are children. Yes, children. As with driving, it’s not always us we have to worry about, it’s the drivers around us, and one can only make the argument here that it’s all the other people on the beach who are ogling these kids with eyes and thoughts that are so totally inappropriate for the age.
I beg you parents, stand up and ask for greater coverage; your children don’t need to dress like adults yet.
Jenny Hughes
Hermosa Beach
El Segundo Police Officers' Association (ESPOA) Exposed