by Sheikh Ayesha Islam
For parents and caregivers, the task extends beyond supervision. It calls for active mediation, co-viewing, and turning media into a teaching moment about respect, equality, and dignity. Early childhood educators must also embed media literacy into classrooms, guiding children to question cultural messages and recognise dignity as a central value.
As someone with a postgraduate degree in Early Childhood Development, I view popular media through the lens of its influence on children and the societies in which they grow up. Guru Randhawa’s recent music video Azul raises grave concerns because of the way it sexualises schoolgirl imagery. This is not a matter of creative choice alone. It reflects and reinforces cultural patterns that harm children’s development and well-being.
In the video, dancers wear short, school-uniform style outfits and perform suggestive moves, while lyrics compare women to expensive alcohol brands. Such portrayals are not harmless entertainment. They normalise the sexualisation of minors and reduce women to consumable objects. When the school uniform, a symbol of childhood and learning, is sexualised, the boundary between childhood and adult sexuality is blurred in disturbing ways.
The Weight of a Name
The title Azul itself carries disturbing significance. It is directly associated with the premium tequila brand Clase Azul, marketed for its smooth flavours and distinctive, hand-painted bottles prized as luxury collectables. The lyrics do not simply compare women to alcohol. They equate them with a high-end commodity.
The metaphor is doubly dehumanising. Women and girls are presented as objects that can be consumed, acquired, and collected, valued for appearance and the status they confer. Such framing strips women of agency and entrenches the idea that their worth lies not within themselves but in their desirability for male consumption.
Popular music today goes beyond entertainment. It functions as a form of cultural curriculum, shaping children’s values, identities, and perceptions of self. I am deeply concerned by the increasing normalisation of sexualised representations in media, especially in music videos and lyrics readily accessible to the youngest audiences.
Children spend several hours each day consuming entertainment media. When such a large portion of their waking lives is saturated with these messages, the media becomes a primary socialising agent. This role is undeniable and alarming.
Research in developmental psychology shows that children do not consume media passively. They actively internalise and interpret what they encounter (Bandura, 2001). When songs repeatedly frame women’s bodies as objects of desire or present relationships through consumption and possession, such narratives seep into children’s social learning. Studies confirm that early exposure to sexualised and stereotypical media content influences children’s understanding of gender roles, body image, and social expectations.
Consequences for Childhood Development
From the perspective of early childhood, these concerns are profound. The formative years are when children develop their sense of identity, belonging, and the frameworks through which they interpret the world. If their cultural diet is saturated with messages equating worth with appearance or normalising objectification, the risks include body dissatisfaction, diminished self-esteem, and distorted expectations of relationships.
These trends cannot be dismissed as matters of entertainment alone. They must be seen as part of the broader hidden curriculum of society. Media rivals schools, peers, and even families in shaping norms. As scholars such as Strasburger and Hogan argue, unrestricted exposure to media contributes to premature sexualisation and undermines healthy psychosocial development.
Artistic Freedom and Social Responsibility
While creative freedom in the arts must be respected, the question arises: at what cost? Proponents may argue that such videos represent artistic expression intended for adults. Yet this defence is undermined by the pervasive nature of digital media. Content designed for adults is rarely consumed in isolation. It filters down to younger audiences through social media algorithms, memes, playground chatter, and older siblings.
Artistic freedom does not absolve creators of the responsibility to avoid harm, especially to the most vulnerable. Sexualising imagery that mimics childhood for adult consumption erodes crucial protective boundaries in a society already struggling to uphold them.
Childhood at Risk
Do we, as a society, recognise the influence of these portrayals on children’s developmental trajectories? What responsibility rests with media producers, educators, and parents in mediating these effects? If childhood is indeed the foundation of lifelong wellbeing, then the role of media in constructing children’s worlds cannot be dismissed. It is not simply entertainment. It is education by other means.
This carries particular weight in a country where child sexual abuse is already widespread. A government study by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007 revealed that more than half of Indian children reported experiencing some form of sexual abuse. In such a context, popular music videos that glamorise child-like imagery in sexual ways risk further desensitising society. They also reinforce the dangerous stereotype of the seductive schoolgirl, a narrative that shifts responsibility from perpetrators to victims.
This phenomenon is not isolated. In Japan, JK Cafes have faced controversy for the commercialisation of schoolgirl culture. Closer to home, Indian media has repeatedly returned to the same trope. Numerous item numbers and regional film songs have used school and college settings to frame sexualised performances, presenting them as harmless entertainment rather than exploitation.
Developmental Impact
From a developmental perspective, the implications are profound. Children learn not only from what adults teach them but also from what they see and hear around them. When the media repeatedly objectifies women and presents young girls as sexual objects, children internalise these messages. Girls may begin to link self-worth with appearance and sexual desirability, while boys may grow up associating masculinity with dominance and entitlement.
The problem lies not only in imagery but also in the stereotypes it sustains. The seductive schoolgirl trope is deeply harmful because it creates the illusion that girls invite sexual attention. Developmental research shows that children as young as five begin to internalise societal standards of attractiveness. Repeated exposure to sexualised images leads to body dissatisfaction, reduced self-esteem, and restricted aspirations. For boys, the normalisation of adult men desiring schoolgirls reinforces patriarchal norms and legitimises unequal power relations.
This concern is heightened in India, where the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s 2007 study revealed that more than half of children reported experiencing sexual abuse. Media that romanticises child-like imagery for adult audiences is therefore not only irresponsible but dangerous.
India has pledged child protection through laws such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and through education reforms under the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasises holistic development, ethical learning, and the safeguarding of childhood. At the global level, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, requires states to protect children from harmful cultural products. Yet when mainstream media glorifies sexualised depictions of schoolgirls, these safeguards remain incomplete.
Towards Cultural Accountability
Bridging this gap requires collective action. Regulatory bodies must enforce stricter content guidelines across television and streaming platforms. The music and film industries should establish internal ethics panels to screen content for harmful stereotypes. Most importantly, the vision of the National Education Policy 2020 must be realised by integrating media literacy into school curricula, teaching children to critically interpret the content they consume.
For parents and caregivers, the task extends beyond supervision. It calls for active mediation, co-viewing, and turning media into a teaching moment about respect, equality, and dignity. Early childhood educators must also embed media literacy into classrooms, guiding children to question cultural messages and recognise dignity as a central value.
Comparing young women to bottles of expensive liquor in Azul further entrenches commodification, reducing femininity to something consumable. These metaphors strip women and girls of agency and reinforce the belief that their value lies in being desirable products. From the perspective of Early Childhood Development, such narratives erode the cultural foundations necessary for raising children with respect for gender equality and human dignity.
Sexualising schoolgirls in popular music videos is not a matter of aesthetics or personal taste. It carries developmental, social, and ethical consequences. It trivialises child protection, reinforces harmful gender scripts, and undermines efforts to create safe environments for children’s growth. Cultural industries must be held accountable for the messages they project. Artistic freedom cannot come at the expense of children’s rights and dignity.
A Cultural Responsibility
If the aim is to nurture children who grow up with self-worth, empathy, and respect for others, sexualised depictions of schoolgirls in entertainment media have no place in that vision. Concern alone is insufficient. The next time a video such as Azul appears, producers must be questioned, platforms must be held responsible, and children must be guided to recognise its dangers. Protecting childhood is not a passive pursuit. It is a cultural responsibility that society must actively uphold by cultivating norms and values that sensitise the public to the harm of such portrayals.
(The author is an alumna of the Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, Jamia Millia Islamia. The views expressed are personal.)
