If your daughter is old enough to decide that she wants to participate in Teen beauty contests, the best thing you can do is to support her and point her in the right direction.  While competing in pageants is fun and a great way to kick start your modelling career, it is essential that parents fundamentally highlight the importance of how feeling good about ones self and fostering good self esteem, is far more important than winning any beauty pageant.  It is important that at this vulnerable age, young women realise that being beautiful is not the most important thing.  Hopefully through competing in teen contests, your daughter will not feed into the false sense of beauty that the media portrays, but rather will make friends and develop her social skills, learn what it means to win or lose gracefully, and most importantly, have fun!  At UKB, we care about you and your children, and while we encourage the participation of teens in ethical and well – run pageants, we also understand the dangers of the industry: The UKBPA Contests Policy on Teen Pageants is set out to help deter rogue organisers from setting up dangerous and unethical contests, where the young women can be made vulnerable.  So, if the pageant does not appear on our approved list, you know that it does not meet our strict Contests Policy Guidelines, that all genuine pageant organisers have adhered to, and we would advise you to take caution before entering your daughter into any contest that is not on our approved list.

Our advice for parents of girls entering teen contests is as follows:

Makeup

Keep it simple!  Plastering herself in makeup will not only re-enforce the media and society’s already strong projections of impossible and unobtainable perception of beauty, but may also give her bad skin.  By keeping makeup to a minimum and allowing her to be herself, you are not only encouraging self – confidence from within, but are also teaching her that natural beauty and good self – esteem easily outweigh false beauty.  Make sure that you gently encourage her to start a good skin – care regime that she can continue throughout the rest of her life, which includes good a moisturiser and a SPF cream.  Also if possible, avoid acrylic nils and too much hair dye; There is plenty of time later on for thick makeup, hair extensions and false eye lashes in the Miss division, the Teen division is for exactly that – teenagers wanting to find themselves, buy make up and see what suits them, discover their sense of style, and have fun!

Parents

The papers are littered with articles of children being forced to compete in Teen contests by pushy parents!  The best thing you can do as a parent of an over – enthusiastic teen, is to let her get involved by herself, and be there in the background to lovingly support her.  We are not by any means saying that you should rush out and buy your daughter the latest designer gowns, but a helping hand, along with supportive family and friends, to raise her first entry fee, is usually a great place to start.  At the same time, the ability to recognise when your daughter wants to get out, is equally, if not more, important.  If she says ‘Mum, I’m not comfortable doing this,’ then that’s it!  You may of paid the sponsorship fee and be ready to walk on stage, but if she gets anything past last – minute stage jitters, it is your responsibility as a parent, to pull your daughter out of any situation that she is not comfortable with.  UKB believes that the point of Teen pageants should be centred towards the contestants, for self-esteem, winning and losing(sportsmanship so to speak), interacting with other children etc..., and should not be stolen by the parents to full fill their own aspirations.  They should also give teenage girls an appreciation of their unique qualities, and not be there for parental pride.  Otherwise, pageants can be something fun and girly for mother and daughter, or all the family to do together, and are not harmful if done in a fun, light nature with parental support.

ENTRY FORM

PARENTAL CONSENT FORM

If your daughter is old enough to decide that she wants to participate in Teen beauty contests, the best thing you can do is to support her and point her in the right direction.  While competing in pageants is fun and a great way to kick start your modelling career, it is essential that parents fundamentally highlight the importance of how feeling good about ones self and fostering good self esteem, is far more important than winning any beauty pageant.  It is important that at this vulnerable age, young women realise that being beautiful is not the most important thing.  Hopefully through competing in teen contests, your daughter will not feed into the false sense of beauty that the media portrays, but rather will make friends and develop her social skills, learn what it means to win or lose gracefully, and most importantly, have fun!  At UKB, we care about you and your children, and while we encourage the participation of teens in ethical and well – run pageants, we also understand the dangers of the industry: The UKBPA Contests Policy on Teen Pageants is set out to help deter rogue organisers from setting up dangerous and unethical contests, where the young women can be made vulnerable.  So, if the pageant does not appear on our approved list, you know that it does not meet our strict Contests Policy Guidelines, that all genuine pageant organisers have adhered to, and we would advise you to take caution before entering your daughter into any contest that is not on our approved list.

Our advice for parents of girls entering teen contests is as follows:

Makeup

Keep it simple!  Plastering herself in makeup will not only re-enforce the media and society’s already strong projections of impossible and unobtainable perception of beauty, but may also give her bad skin.  By keeping makeup to a minimum and allowing her to be herself, you are not only encouraging self – confidence from within, but are also teaching her that natural beauty and good self – esteem easily outweigh false beauty.  Make sure that you gently encourage her to start a good skin – care regime that she can continue throughout the rest of her life, which includes good a moisturiser and a SPF cream.  Also if possible, avoid acrylic nils and too much hair dye; There is plenty of time later on for thick makeup, hair extensions and false eye lashes in the Miss division, the Teen division is for exactly that – teenagers wanting to find themselves, buy make up and see what suits them, discover their sense of style, and have fun!

Parents

The papers are littered with articles of children being forced to compete in Teen contests by pushy parents!  The best thing you can do as a parent of an over – enthusiastic teen, is to let her get involved by herself, and be there in the background to lovingly support her.  We are not by any means saying that you should rush out and buy your daughter the latest designer gowns, but a helping hand, along with supportive family and friends, to raise her first entry fee, is usually a great place to start.  At the same time, the ability to recognise when your daughter wants to get out, is equally, if not more, important.  If she says ‘Mum, I’m not comfortable doing this,’ then that’s it!  You may of paid the sponsorship fee and be ready to walk on stage, but if she gets anything past last – minute stage jitters, it is your responsibility as a parent, to pull your daughter out of any situation that she is not comfortable with.  UKB believes that the point of Teen pageants should be centred towards the contestants, for self-esteem, winning and losing(sportsmanship so to speak), interacting with other children etc..., and should not be stolen by the parents to full fill their own aspirations.  They should also give teenage girls an appreciation of their unique qualities, and not be there for parental pride.  Otherwise, pageants can be something fun and girly for mother and daughter, or all the family to do together, and are not harmful if done in a fun, light nature with parental support.

ENTRY FORM

PARENTAL CONSENT FORM