A major problem in today's society that affects many people is that of low self-esteem and self-confidence. Beauty pageants don't help. Girls with "perfect bodies", white teeth and straight hair from all the hairspray, prancing around in swimsuits are an unnatural role model for young girls and that's what they aspire to become. Before, it was all about adult women, but today we are faced with a whole new category of beauty showcases. Now, instead of 20-year-old women, there are young children and teenage girls. Children are taught harmful life lessons. For example, young girls think they have to be beautiful. Pageants teach children that beauty is on the outside, not the inside. When you teach children that beauty is only on the outside, it can cause big problems. Competitions make or break children. Either they find themselves arrogant and stubborn, or they have little self-confidence because they lost to a girl who didn't have the most expensive dress or the best trainer money could buy. There are around 3,000 beauty pageants held each year around the world and around 3 million children aged 6 to 16 participate each year. Juvenile parties like these have become more and more popular in recent times, and especially in recent years: on television there are programs such as "Toddlers and Tiaras" and "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” These programs attempt to show the glamorous and beautiful side of beauty pageants, but many of the negative sides of pageants are not shown in these television programs. It is extremely difficult for children to consider themselves as beautiful without all the accessories they wear like elaborate clothing. the costumes, the over-the-top makeup, the fake tan and the hair extensions. The root of low self-esteem issues comes from children being middle of paper. The pursuit of perfection leads to lifelong side effects and makes girls expect that natural beauty will be unsatisfactory. We should teach little girls that beauty can be seen in everyone and not because of the makeup someone wears. On the surface, the pageants may be seen as entertaining for those who watch them, but the long-term effects on the young girls involved are very damaging. The way these children view their bodies in a negative way is a major consequence of the desire to look perfect. Young girls can get sick due to the type of diet required for pageants and affect their eating habits for the rest of their lives. Child beauty pageants may seem, at first glance, beautiful and elegant, but when examined at a higher level, the dangers and negativity these children face become more and more evident and eventually change their life for the worse..