What's happening to our children

I've just returned from my first Girl Scout camping trip since becoming an adult. When I was a Brownie, cell phones, iPods and possibly duct tape had not yet been invented so it's obviously been awhile.

Helping to lead a group of 12 girls ranging in age from 7 to nearly 9 was a challenge, to say the least, but in a good way. They are all great kids, willing to work and eager to try new things. I think the trip was a success overall and everyone seemed to have a fun time.

But one thing left me troubled and I've got no place to vent it but here. (Okay, I could vent it to my own mother, my husband and a few like-minded friends but they've either already heard it or will be hearing it soon ad nauseum.)

Our weekend was structured in part by another older troop of Girl Scouts in what's known as a "Camp Carousel." The idea is that older scouts plan and execute a series of different activities for other girls their age and younger. The visiting scouts rotate through the events as part of their own camping trip.

Our girls attended a "carousel" with a tropical island theme. (Think grass skirts, leis, hibiscus flowers, etc. and you get the picture.)

Our schedule for the main day's activities included the hosting troop teaching our girls "native dancing" which we adults assumed would be some form of a hula or other Pacific islander-type of dance.

Instead, our girls were treated to a demonstration of a cross between Brittany Spears and Lady Gaga with recorded hip-hop music by some unknown (to me) artist featuring lyrics riddled with double entendres.

I could only be thankful that most of our girls -- my daughter included -- likely didn't get the meanings.

For an hour, our troop leader, another parent volunteer and I watched as three Girl Scouts demonstrated and led our troop through movements that ranged from the fairly benign to the downright slutty.

Gyrating hip moves for girls who have no hips just don't seem right to me.

Writhing, air punching, twisting, jumping -- it was all culture shock to my daughter whose only form of dance thus far has been classical ballet. I have no idea what the other girls in our troop thought. Some of them participated a little, others stood by virtually unmoving.

As I watched this vignette from the sidelines, I began to wonder about the adults in the lives of the girls providing the dance lesson. And then I began to wonder about myself.

Where was the problem? Was it with the parents of the girls who let them be exposed to music with lyrics that talk of very adult situations from very adult perspectives? Is it that I'm hopelessly married to a time long ago when Girl Scout programs were about group singalongs, folk dances, and skits and fingerplays?

Have I grown too old too soon or have the girls in the generations following mine grown up too fast?

It doesn't stop there. The last night of camp, all the troops on the campground came together for a sort of closing ceremony in which any girl or group of girls could get up before the crowd and perform a short skit, song, or poem. Some of the performances were much more traditionally Girl-Scouty -- the national anthem, funny skits that involved the horror of spotting a Boy Scout, and a great duet about chickens who come back to haunt their executioner. My older daughter who is a Junior even sang an improvised song about bad bugs, appropriate enough for a camping trip in the Texas piney woods.

Then there were the songs that made me cringe -- not because the child or children singing were necessarily poor singers, but because the songs themselves again spoke of things only older teens or adults should rightfully know. Songs of physical attraction, songs of angst (Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" was one of them), songs of the high price of fame and fortune.

None of the scouts singing could have been older than about 12 or 13 yet they sang things like Selena Gomez' "Naturally" and Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA." Below, some excerpts:

You are the thunder and I am the lightning
And I love the way you know who you are
And to me it's exciting
When you know it's meant to be
Everything comes naturally, it comes naturally
When you're with me, baby

Everything comes naturally, it comes naturally
Bay bay baby

When we collide, sparks fly
When you look in my eyes, it takes my breath away . . .


And this from Miss Cyrus:

They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like yeah
Moving my hips like yeah,
And I got my hands up,
They're playin my song
I know I'm gonna be ok
Yeah, It's a party in the USA
Yeah, It's a party in the USA

Get to the club in my taxi cab
Everybody's lookin at me now
Like “whos that chick, thats rockin' kicks?
She gotta be from out of town”

So hard with my girls not around me
Its definitely not a Nashville party
Cause' all I see are stilletos
I guess I never got the memo

My tummys turnin and I'm feelin kinda home sick
Too much pressure and I'm nervous
That's when the D.J. dropped my favorite tune
and a Britney song was on
and the Britney song was on
and the Britney song was on

Club? Stilettos? Moving her hips like yeah? (What's "yeah"?)

See what I mean? Is this really, REALLY what girls 12 and under oughta be singing and hearing and emulating? Is it? Is it REALLY???????