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Child beauty pageants are a lot like crime coverage on local news. Stick with me. This will make sense. I promise.

Viewers complain there's too much crime in local television news reports, and yet, the stations covering crime enjoy high ratings. People complain that child beauty pageants exploit young girls -- some as young as 3 or 4 who are donning makeup, high heels and fake tans -- and yet, the ratings for reality television shows such as TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras" are sky high.

We don't like the idea of these beauty contests for kids, but it seems we can't pull ourselves away. But what if there were no pageants for kids to begin with?

If French lawmakers get their way, there would be no French version of "Toddlers & Tiaras" and no French "Honey Boo Boo," referring to another child pageant reality star. The Senate in France voted to ban child beauty pageants for kids under the age of 16 and now the measure goes to the country's lower house for debate and a vote.

Where did this anti-pageant momentum come from on the part of the French? Some lawmakers point to a controversial photo spread in Vogue back in 2010, featuring a girl as young as 10 in high heels and sexy makeup.

The pageants are sexualizing our young girls, said lawmakers in France, and judging by the response to our request for comment on CNN's Facebook page, many people in the United States agree.

"How pleased I am that, finally, some are fully awakened and realizing that child beauty pageants should be banned," said Darlene Eckerman of Amarillo, Texas, in an e-mail message. "The mothers are the culprits here: teaching your child to be sexy and alluring at such a young, tender age when they are not ready for such exploitation."

Samantha Biswas, also via e-mail, said, "It is not about living vicariously through your child. It's about letting your child's childhood and youth get stolen by makeup, fashion shows, heels and dresses."

"To paint makeup on their faces and do up their hair, etc., OMG, wake up people," said Charlie Caissie. "These are children for heaven's sake, not adults. Let them decide for themselves at an appropriate age if they want to pursue this when they are adults."

Psychologist Wendy Walsh said the danger here is normalizing behavior that once would have been considered extreme and weird. "And now it seems perfectly OK for a little 6-year-old to be walking around in thigh-high boots and short booty shorts and smacking her butt when she dances down a runway? Come on! That's what a stripper does."

Others expressed fears about who may be watching these pageants.

"Every time I think about child beauty pageants, my heart sinks at the thought of all the pedophiles watching them. Why in the world do children need to be so sexualized?" asked a CNN reader.

On the other side are moms like Anna Berry of Littleton, Colorado, who said her 13-year-old daughter Ashley was so shy she couldn't even order for herself at a restaurant. After she started appearing in "natural" pageants (no makeup allowed), she blossomed. And now, as "Miss Heartland Junior Teen," she speaks to young girls across the country about her experiences with bullying, something she encountered when girls were jealous of her success on the pageant circuit.

"She's a role model to many and her confidence to stand up and speak out came from her improved self-esteem through pageantry," said Berry, who says Ashley can out interview and speak more confidently than most adults."These are skills that will benefit her for a lifetime ... just as they did for me growing up in pageantry."

Valerie Best, director of The BEST Shining Stars Pageant located in Southern Indiana, is also strongly against banning pageants for young girls and boys.

She said just because some pageant systems "push it too far" (hers, she said, does not allow "fake hair, fake tans, fake teeth or a lot of makeup"), they most definitely should not be outlawed.

"Society is too quick to judge something they are not familiar with," said Best. " A pageant (run) properly is no different than a young girl competing in gymnastics, a school function or anything else that has a score kept or judged upon. Teach these girls to be strong, confident individuals and see how far they go in life."'

Wynn Westmoreland of Atlanta appeared in school pageants beginning in the sixth grade and competed in the University of Georgia pageant, which is part of the Miss America program. She does not believe in a legal ban.

"It's not a government issue," said Westmoreland. "It's a social issue and it's a family issue."

She believes the pageant bodies should get together and create a new rule only allowing girls to enter when they are at an age when they can choose what they want to do for themselves, around 9, 10 or 11.

"I do not like it when children who are not able to make choices on their own are forced to be in pageants and that is when I see the over-glamourization of young girls," said Westmoreland, who is a media coordinator and writer for CNN's food blog, Eatocracy. "They don't even look like children anymore. They look like objects."

Tish Howard, a former school principal, is no fan of child pageants, but like Westmoreland, thinks government should not be deciding what programs are acceptable for children.

"I think outlawing them is a slippery slope where the government starts dictating what activities parents can or cannot make available to children," said Howard. "I do believe we could set guidelines on what does and does not constitute promoting sexual exploitation of children as far as routines and dress."

I always try to approach these stories, as a mom of two young girls, with the question of what would I do? In this case, how would I feel if my girls wanted to enter a pageant?

Full disclosure here: I did compete in the New York Miss T.E.E.N. pageant in high school, but let me stress it was not a beauty pageant but a pageant based on talent, interviewing skills and community service. It was a terrific experience for me, and as many other women said earlier, it only added to my self-esteem, confidence and fire to achieve my dreams.

So back to the question, what if my girls, ages 5 and 7, wanted to be in a pageant?

I think I agree with the sentiment that they can do what they want when they are old enough to make that decision for themselves, which means I don't have to worry about this one.

At least not yet.

Follow Kelly Wallace on Twitter and like CNN Living on Facebook

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french moving to ban child beauty pageants: should we? - cnn

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French moving to ban child beauty pageants: Should we?

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Child beauty pageants are a lot like crime coverage on local news. Stick with me. This will make sense. I promise. Viewers complain there's too much crime in local television news reports, and yet, the stations covering crime enjoy high ratings.

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6 Essential Pros and Cons of Child Beauty Pageants | NLCATP.org

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The Psychological Effects of Child Beauty Pageants

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Child beauty pageants were first brought to the public eye when six-year-old pageant contestant JonBenet Ramsey was found murdered in her home in 1996. News broadcasts showed pictures of her all dolled up, which led to the public becoming interested in these beauty pageants and eventually the popularity of child beauty pageants in media.

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Miss Possibilities: A Pageant for Children With Special Needs

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For the past few months we've been closely working with Miss Possibilities, an organization who's primary goal is to create awareness and promote true consideration and inclusion for children with special needs or are differently abled. The main activity is a "pageant" showcasing the kids' talents and abilities.

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They say everything is bigger in Texas, and for the state's pint-size beauty pageant queens, that includes the hair, the crowns and the attitudes.

The little girls are show stoppers on "Toddlers & Tiaras," which has its second-season premiere Wednesday on TLC. This time the show follows the Universal Royalty pageant, a Texas competition in which nearly 100 young participants compete for the title of "Ultimate Grand Supreme" and $1,000 cash.

One of the contenders is 4-year-old Eden Wood, who's wearing a Las Vegas showgirl outfit in the first episode. Eden's been sashaying across the stage since she was 1, winning hundreds of trophies and crowns.

Play

Click here to see more of Eden Wood's pageant photos.

She especially likes getting all dolled up, she said. "My mamma puts my makeup on, and I really wanna get good with my makeup, and I like to do my makeup."

Her biggest fan is her mother, Mickie Wood, a former beauty queen who hopes that Eden will go from tiny Taylor, Ark., all the way to Miss America some day.

"It's sort of like small town, big dreams. Any time you come from a town with 556 population, you know it's big time for us," said Wood.

Her daughter is a natural talent, according to Wood. "She just shines when she comes on stage, it's the entertainer in her."

But Wood admits that behind that little entertainer is a big diva. "She's very independent and very opinionated and, you know, within a few moments of going to a photo shoot or meeting someone I can tell you if she's gonna, she doesn't like a photographer, she will tell you. Does she rule the house? Pretty much," Wood said.

Wood has turned Eden's pageants into a second career, and fame doesn't come cheap. A dress can cost up to $3,000. The Wood family said it has spent $70,000 on beauty essentials, such as spray tans, fake hair and photos.

Families like hers have made the pageant circuit a booming business. It's estimated that 250,000 children compete in more than 5,000 pageants in the United States each year. Even a 2-week-old baby boy is competing in this season's "Toddlers & Tiaras."

But family therapist Terry Real warns pageants can cost families a lot more than money.

"Performance based esteem -- I have worth because of what I can do or I have worth because of my beauty -- and what you want to teach your kid is you have worth because of who you are, period," Real said. "I think these kinds of contests are very confusing."

Parents' Involvement Under Fire

A 2007 study by the American Psychological Association linked a premature emphasis on appearance with "three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression."

Real said many mothers make the mistake of getting overly involved, and that can backfire.

Some viewers of "Toddlers & Tiaras" have weighed in to TLC with their own opinions.

"The parents are exploiting their own children for the sake of increasing the parent's self-esteem. Shame on them," one person said.

Another's view: "These parents need to stop living their lives through their children."

Wood disagrees, saying, "When she doesn't want to do something, anybody that knows Eden will tell you Eden doesn't do it."

Wood likens her role to the father or mother at the baseball park in the stands yelling, "Get 'em! Get 'em! Get 'em!," when a child is up at bat. "You get so into it you don't even realize that you're up doing it. It's just ... being a proud parent," she added.

Yet when Eden forgot the words to her pageant song during an interview with "Good Morning America," Wood was there chiming in.

While it's true that performing is a big part of their lives, Wood is quick to say that Eden is still just a kid being a kid.

"We are, you know, at the farm with our cows, riding a tractor, running barefoot. ... She's the gift from God you know. She's just a doll and I love her, no matter what she does."

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They say everything is bigger in Texas, and for the state's pint-size beauty pageant queens, that includes the hair, the crowns and the attitudes. The little girls are show stoppers on "Toddlers & Tiaras," which has its second-season premiere Wednesday on TLC.

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What is new about the modern child beauty pageant is the transformation of a simple competition to find an appealingly plump and pretty toddler into a slick professional industry that transforms small girls into miniature beauty queens replete with garish make-up, big hair and sequined costumes that are more Bratz than traditional Sleeping Beauty princess.

The first Little Miss America was staged in the 1960s and has now evolved into the modern child beauty pageant industry with 250,000 pageants that generate $20 billion annually.

However the murder of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey in 1996 and the attendant screening of her performance tapes by CBS, which were dubbed "kiddie porn", led to critical attention being focused on this strange subculture where a four-year-old in sequins performing dances with flirtatious poses is deemed "cute". HBO's 2001 documentary Living Dolls: The Making of a Child Beauty Queen also focused on the world of junior beauty pageants and the relentless pressure driven parents put on their small children to compete and succeed.

The lady responsible for the first Irish child beauty pageant this month is Annette Williams of the Universal Royal Beauty Pageant. She has previously asserted (on ABC News) that in Texas, "We like all the glamour, we like the rhinestones, we like the sequins, we like the big beautiful hair". Williams describes her pageants as being a "fun family time" and that they allow contestants to develop "individuality, capability, poise and confidence". One suspects upon examination of her website, where successful contestants flourish fans of dollar bills, that rather than being driven by altruistic motives, Williams's motivation is guided strictly by the bottom line. The public will know her from Toddlers and Tiaras, the US reality TV show that reveals the intensity of pageant life as a whirlwind of skimpy costumes, temper tantrums and pushy parents.

Another star of that show, Eden Wood, one of the most successful American child beauty pageant queens, has been quoted as claiming: "Make-up makes me happy. I like being pretty on stage with my make-up on." She will be making a special guest appearance at the Dublin pageant on September 21. Eden is a mini-entrepreneur with a burgeoning film career, clothing line and spokesperson contracts. Now retired from the pageant circuit as a contestant she is selling her expertise to aspiring hopefuls who aim to emulate her success. She has been competing in pageants since she was a 14-month-old toddler.

Despite criticism that the pageants exist to provide an outlet for the narcissistic ambitions of parents through their offspring, the pageant industry thrives. In 2009 it was estimated that 250,000 children competed in 5,000 pageants stateside and that some spent up to $3,000 on their dresses. Entry fees can run into hundreds of dollars and the top pageant divas travel with mini-entourages, including hair and make-up as well as professional coaches.

Not surprisingly some competing families go into debt prioritising pageant costumes, fees and grooming over expenses such as rent: some have confessed to spending up to $30,000 on the competitions.

Apart from the financial costs associated with pageants, there are concerns that the premature emphasis on appearance for small girls may be detrimental to their long-term mental wellbeing and development.

Irish psychologist, David Carey observes: "I am not aware of any research about the impact of these pageants on the children involved. However, as a psychologist with an interest in children's development I think that over-emphasis on beauty and feminisation is counter-productive to the development of a girl's ability to integrate into society as a whole person rather than an object of beauty."

A 2007 study by the American Psychological Association asserted that pageants teach young girls "to see themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated for their appearance". The three most common mental health problems for girls: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression, may be fuelled by exposure to a culture that promotes performance-based esteem and a judging criteria that views highlights, fake tan and heavy make up as appropriate for girls who can't even read. The more extreme parents subject their little girls to botox, facial threading, waxing, hair and nail extensions and fake teeth. All this gender socialisation to re-enforce traditional limiting female stereotypes forces little girls into the adoption of a veneer of premature precociousness that is profoundly disturbing.

The strange surreal world of child beauty pageants must be confusing for a toddler's brain to absorb, never mind the skimpy costumes more suited to womanly curves than children's physiques. On this side of the Atlantic, the British Journal of Psychology recently reported that half of all six-year-olds think they are fat, and that by nine, half have been on a diet. For girls of 11 to 17, being thinner is their biggest wish.

In a society that places so much emphasis on physical attractiveness girls are very quick to absorb the message that looks are more important than any accomplishment or talent they develop. In a pageant environment the criteria for success is a blend of "sassy" attitude, "cuteness" and precocious glamour, which even an adult brain would find hard to assimilate.

Balancing grooming and performing with the requisite amount of "star' quality must be an onerous task for a four-year-old who is still tackling her ABCs and 123s. David Carey makes the point that "Dressing children up in adult makeup and clothes robs them of childhood. Dress up is part of child's play: it should not be forced on children. I think it is a step too far to say this is sexualisation of children but it certainly is a failure to recognise the child as a child rather than a miniature adult."

Is it any wonder that the children on Toddlers and Tiaras sometimes have dramatic meltdowns? If you as a small child were forced to wear false breasts to perform as Dolly Parton, an approximation of Madonna's conical breast costume or Julia Robert's Hollywood hooker costume a la Pretty Woman, wouldn't you feel peevish? Pageants are exempt from Child Labour Laws in the USA so contestants can travel and compete without the interference or protection of State or Governmental agencies. To keep contestants fresh and perky some parents have been observed giving their daughters "pageant crack" (a liquid mix of sugar, energy drinks and high end sweeteners), prior to performing.

It will be fascinating to see what level of interest the first Irish child beauty pageant will arouse - are the Irish too sensible to entertain the idea or will there be stage mothers ready to enter their little girls lured by the promise of celebrity and prize money?

The organisers of the €20,000 event obviously think that there is money to be made and the guest appearance by Eden Wood will attract fans. Looking at this primped and preened child with her heavy make up, frozen smile, false eyelashes and bouffant hair I feel incredibly sad. Girlhood is under siege everywhere - Barbies, Bratz, sexualised children's fashions, Princess mania and now beauty pageants all erode girlhood with fierce intent.

Beauty isn't an achievement it's merely an accidental attribute - making little girls compete in these pageants creates a perception that seeking perfection is a valid ambition. What a sad life lesson to give them that being pretty is the most important thing.

David Carey summarises the conflict for these miniature beauty queens: "The work of childhood is play ... Play teaches children how to learn. Play is fun, not competitive. Children compelled to dress like little adult models, strut on a catwalk like models and smile at an adoring group of mothers, all hell bent on seeing to it that their child "wins" is the antithesis of play.

Let children be children. Put the parents on the catwalk if they want to compete and see how they feel about it at the end of the day."

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What is new about the modern child beauty pageant is the transformation of a simple competition to find an appealingly plump and pretty toddler into a slick professional industry that transforms small girls into miniature beauty queens replete with garish make-up, big hair and sequined costumes that are more Bratz than traditional Sleeping Beauty princess.

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Debate.org is a dynamic social community where you can voice your opinion on today's hottest issues.

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argument: absurdly young kids are being entered into pageants

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argument: beauty pageants are big business

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argument: beauty pageants are not similar to sports for kids

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argument: beauty pageants encourage kids to seek plastic surgery

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argument: child beauty contests encourage girls to grow-up too fast

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argument: child beauty contests worsen pedophilia

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argument: child beauty pageants sexualize children

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argument: judgment of children to participate can't be relied on

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argument: moms enter kids into beauty pageants for own insecurities

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argument: pageants based on bad idea of children being better than others

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Debate: Child beauty pageants - Debatepedia

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Parents not pageant system are usually at fault. "Child Beauty Pageants Pros and Cons." Squidoo: "Toddler beauty pageants pros and cons are both numerous. Child pageants are like just about everything else - there's good and bad.

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Talent Show Ideas for Kids: You Would Surely Love Them

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Don't know what to perform at a talent show? Well, this video has some really cool activities for kids. Your idea for the talent show needs to stand out and your performance needs to be the best one! Watch this video to know how to combine these two things and showcase your talent in the most entertaining way.