During the Mid-Autumn Festival, a private kindergarten in Kinmen County arranged for kindergarten students to wear "grapefruit bikinis" to go to chain supermarkets. It may be too cool, sparking public discussion. The Kinmen County government said today that it has asked the kindergarten to ask whether it arranges children to wear inappropriate clothing. If it raises concerns about children's personal privacy protection and body autonomy, a report will be submitted within 1 week. If there is any violation of law or inappropriate behavior, it will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
This kindergarten with a history of more than 20 years has launched special Mid-Autumn Festival projects "Grapefruit Army Attack" and "Mid-Autumn Festival Exclusive, Grapefruit Bikini Attack", and emphasized that who said that Mid-Autumn Festival can only be about admiring the moon and eating grapefruit? "We just want to 'wear' grapefruit on our bodies", "let the babies wear grapefruit costumes made by teachers", transform into "yuzu elf", "little grapefruit fashion model", learn about grapefruit and Mid-Autumn Festival ingredients by visiting the hypermarket, turning the scene into a large-scale cute show.
Many of these young children, who have not yet entered elementary school, only wear a pair of shorts or similar diapers. Two grapefruit shells are used to cover important parts of the upper body. The lower body is like a Hawaiian grass skirt, with grapefruit peels strung together to form a "grapeskirt."
Videos of kindergarten students dressing up have attracted backlash online, with comments such as "It's not appropriate to wear this", "It's too revealing", "Putting a bikini-like outfit on a child and bringing it into a public store seriously blurs the boundaries of a child's body and exposes the child to unpredictable public gaze."
Dr. Jiang Wansi, a doctor of gender education, learned about the discussion from "Crisp" and said: "The girls in the video are very naked, and the deliberate use of grapefruit to enhance their sexual characteristics has frightened many people. Why do the teachers and supervisors of this kindergarten think it is okay for young children to be naked in the street and filmed? Do they really think that these frightening and screaming messages are just attacks by peers? This example is worthy of being included in the gender equality education courses for preschool and childcare staff!"
The private kindergarten issued a statement: 1. The original intention of the activity design: refer to the customs of domestic kindergartens, nurseries and childcare staff that have been in place for many years (creative decoration of grapefruit peels), and it is not original to the kindergarten. 2. Respect the wishes of parents and children: Obtain parental consent in advance. Participating parents will prepare peeled grapefruit belts by themselves and bring them to the kindergarten, and then teachers will assist in connecting and wearing them. The whole process is "voluntary participation". Even if the parents agree and the child does not want to wear it at the moment, the kindergarten will respect the child's wishes and will never force them. 3. Call to stop reprinting and protect children’s privacy: The public is requested to stop distributing or reprinting without authorization the photos and videos of the kindergarten’s Facebook page.
The County Education Department stated that it has required operators to submit a complete written report within one week for careful evaluation.
