PEI Kids Sponsors Screening of “Sexy Baby: A Documentary About Sexiness and the Cyber Age”

Ewing, NJ—On Thursday, October 24, 2013, The College of New Jersey’s Bonner Center for Civic and Community Engagement will be hosting a free 7pm screening of the critically acclaimed documentary “Sexy Baby: A Documentary About Sexiness and the Cyber Age.” The screening is sponsored by two local violence prevention agencies, PEI Kids and Womanspace, and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in collaboration with TCNJ’s Department of Women and Gender Studies, Department of Counselor Education, and Women in Learning and Leadership.

Described by Jay A. Fernandez of Indiewire as “harrowing, graphic and poignant—essential viewing for everyone living in a post-Internet age”, “Sexy Baby”  follows 12-year-old Winnie, 22-year-old Laura, and 32-year-old Nakita Kash, as they experience an age saturated with sexting instead of courtship and online pornography before sex ed. As the film may be too graphic for some audience members, the educational version will be screened at this event.

“As adults, we need to get comfortable with the fact that sex, often bordering on pornography, has entered our mainstream culture and our children have instant access to it via the internet and media,”  says PEI Kids Executive Director Penny Ettinger. “We must understand the facts, get comfortable with the uncomfortable, and have conversations with our children often. A screening of ‘Sexy Baby’ is definitely a means to accomplishing these goals.”

“The objectification of women in the media and in our society is so very prevalent and can lead to behaviors that demean and even abuse women both emotionally and physically,” says Executive Director of Womanspace Pat Hart. “’Sexy Baby’ explores this issue which is amplified by the access that young people have to images on the internet and discusses the lengths to which women will go in attempting to achieve what is ‘desirable or sexy’”

The screening of “Sexy Baby” will be held at the TCNJ Education Building, room 115, at 7:00pm. The College is located at 2000 Pennington Road in Ewing, NJ. For more information about the screening, please visit the Bonner Center event page or contact PEI Kids at 609-695-3739.

About PEI Kids

Currently serving approximately 16,000 children and their families each year, PEI Kids began in 1985 when, while working at a rape crisis center, its founders discovered there were no local services tailored for children who had been sexually abused. For the past 28 years, its mission has been dedicated to promoting and maintaining a safe environment for all children. Its services have expanded to include engaging, developmentally appropriate and culturally diverse Prevention/Education and Intervention programs relating to personal safety; physical and sexual abuse; understanding physical and educational differences; school safety and bullying; anger management; gang prevention; and the overall well-being of the child and family. The County Prosecutor’s Office refers 100% of child sexual abuse victims to PEI Kids, and it is currently the lead agency of the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse. PEI Kids also provides client services to foster care children and their biological families, supervising more than 1,600 family visits each year and transporting foster children and family members to visitations, and medical and other important appointments. To learn more about PEI Kids’ many programs and services for Mercer County children and families, and how you can support its efforts by volunteering or donating, please call 609-695-3739 or visit www.peikids.org. All calls regarding possible abuse are confidential.