Where have all the children gone?

Why is it children can't just be children these days? They seem to need to be tiny adults. Rather than creating their own imaginative worlds to live in they spend their days primping and preening to create 'perfection', 12 year olds don't need 'perfection' they need cut knees, make believe and mud! What has happened to the world? Instead of using their imagination and energetic nature these children are holed up in bedrooms with boxes full of make-up and clothes rather than toys, when did this happen? When did seven year olds have a need for padded bikini tops (recently added and then taken away from the range at Primark)? Perhaps fashion's idealised image is being spread just a little too far, media coverage it seems can be both a blessing and a curse; not only is it effecting young women, but it appears to be drawing in the young and the defenceless too. Just let them be children, there will be enough time later in their lives for them to deal with stress and beauty products.