When young children dress themselves, the results are often colorful and rarely resemble current fashion. Kids want to leave the house in princess dresses, superman costumes or their one favorite pair of neon-green pants.

Parents usually intervene, with some variation of, “What will the neighbors think?”

Do you think this could be damaging to a child’s self-esteem? Are children (and people, in general) so perceptive of others’ opinions because they were taught to pay attention at an early age? Is teaching them to fit in necessary?