The way we view the changes in technology might just prove to be a very bad thing for our kids. Take this story in USA Today, for example. Parents are furious that their preadolescent girls are bombarded with sexuality through ads from retailers that are marketing products more appropriate for women. The ads are going directly to their daughters' cell phones.

Obviously this problem is best handled by trying to force retailers to change their ad tactics. Because heaven forbid we question the parents' decision to give their 8-year-old a cell phone?

Also under fire are mature clothing and makeup lines marketed to girls as young as six. Peggy Orenstein, mother of a 7-year-old, and writer of Cinderella Ate My Daughter, is even bothered by her daughter's request for fingernail polish in preschool. Apparently Peggy never dresses nice, or wears fingernail polish. Her daughter had to have gotten the idea from the media.

And I sit here utterly stumped. Because my girls watched Disney. My girls had makeup kits to play with when they were 2, and intentionally painted their faces to look like clowns, not the pretty cartoon princesses they watched religiously on television. And these days? At ages 10-13? They're really not into makeup. A little eyeshadow, sometimes. A dab of blush. Some funky color on their nails once in a while, just like Mom, not Nicki Minaj.

Parents! You're right. The marketing industry doesn't have your childrens' best interests at heart. They are more worried about money than your kids' mental and physical safety. Their job is to bring in money, not parent your kids. So why not let them do their job, while you continue to do yours?