Kim Kardashian is making North West grow up too fast – it’s damaging to her wellbeing and self-worth, expert says
MOST nine-year-olds just want to go to Disney — but North West isn’t most nine-year-olds, and on Monday she went to the Met Gala.
It’s only the latest instance of Kim Kardashian putting North in adult situations, and one parenting expert said it’s “hugely detrimental” and the little girl’s in danger of attaching her “self-worth to external validation.”
According to a children’s confidence coach, fans were right to slam Kim Kardashian for taking her oldest daughter to the Met Gala on Monday night.
“It’s so sad. It’s an 18+ event for a reason, children don’t need to be at a very public event where they are put out there for criticism and hate,” one critic wrote on a Kardashians thread.
“This is really sad… let kids be kids,” wrote another, while a third called it “icky.
“It’s profit over children. Kim, let your girl be a child!” begged yet another, and the move was even bashed as “gross” by Megyn Kelly.
This isn’t the first time that Kim has been criticized for her parenting choices, but increasingly, it does seem that North is being given more than just a glimpse into the adult world.
Just recently, it was revealed that Kim has filed four new trademarks in North’s name in a bid to prepare her for her future.
And according to Natalie Costa, 40, a children’s confidence and parent coach and founder of Power Thoughts, from London, pushing North to grow up too quickly is bad for her developing brain.
“Firstly, brain-development-wise, children aged nine don’t have a fully developed brain,” Natalie told The U.S. Sun.
“This means that they don’t have the ability to deal with or cope with environments that are very adult situations or being exposed to the adult events and content that they see.”
North, who shares a TikTok account with her mom, is regularly seen out and about with Kim, often being made to pose for Instagram snaps.
Just recently, North was styled and made to pose as Janet Jackson in the R-rated 1993 film Poetic Justice.
Fans were quick to point out that it looked as though Kim had edited the pictures to alter the shape of North’s chin.
The little girl was also photographed having a meltdown after attending a basketball game last week, with Kim seen putting her hand over North’s mouth and face in a bid to get her to stop.
The youngster’s been to a lot of grown-up events, even sitting front row at Fashion Week,
“North is now a ‘tween’ (a child aged 8 -12 years) and her brain is going through a lot of development,” said Natalie.
“As it does this, it will start adapting to the environment it is in.
“Kim needs to be creating a healthy environment for her daughter’s growing brain to adapt and learn the skills she needs to not only manage her emotions in an effective way, but also to know that her self-worth doesn’t come from external validation.”
“The pre-frontal cortex is the part of our brain that allows us to think rationally, gives us a sense of perspective, and has the ability to problem solve.
“It allows us the ability to tolerate frustration and really difficult emotions, helps us inhibit certain reactions because we know it’s not appropriate to show them, and it is the part that motivates us to do things when we don’t want to do them.
“It isn’t fully formed until we are in our mid-twenties,” Natalie added.
North shares regular TikTok videos sharing glimpses into her life, and while Kim has ensured that commenting is switched off, North is still able to view videos on the platform.
TikTok, of course, has an age restriction of 13, so North is being exposed to content that is not always appropriate for a nine-year-old.
“By making children grow up too quickly and exposing them to events like the Met Gala or being on social media, they attach their self-worth to external validation,” Natalie explained.
“So the, ‘I am only liked if I have so many followers,’ ‘I’m only liked if I’m wearing certain named brand’ scenarios.
“These are all external markers, and for someone like North, who doesn’t have a fully developed brain, it’s much easier to place that external validation on those things versus thinking, ‘What am I doing to build my inner world?'”
Being part of the Kardashian/Jenner family and brand means that there is little or no break from the paparazzi for North, who has been vocal about her dislike of them.
Natalie is quick to point out that as adults, it is our job to protect our children.
“They are not mini-adults,” she said.
“They are children with immature brains which are still growing, and we need to feed and nourish their brains.
“[Their] brains are fed and nourished by what we expose them to, what we teach them, what they see around them.
“We see the world through fully-integrated brains, children see the world through a half-developed brain, so it is up to us to embed the skills they need to tolerate frustration and build up their internal world.
“I think putting children in environments where they are not yet equipped to deal can be really detrimental to their well-being, sense of self-worth, and how they feel about themselves as a person.”
A more age-appropriate upbringing would be the best idea then to protect North’s mental health, not just now, but in the future, she urged.
“We need to be mindful of what we feed and nourish our children’s growing brains with what we expose them to, what we teach them,” Natalie warned.
This will “allow them to have healthy development both with themselves and the people around them.”