Baz Blakeney  Herald Sun

Today's column comes all the way from sunny Perth. OK, forget the sunny bit. I won't lie. It's been teeming for days.

Image: Junior MasterChef Tuck Shop challenge. Pierre, Gary Mehigan and Cassidy. Source: HWT Image Library

Any more of this weather and I may have to build an ark to get home to Melbourne.

They've just had the Perth Fashion Festival over here, which is a bit like a Melbourne Fashion Festival that got shrunk in the wash.

Speaking of fashion, I see Melbourne has named two youngsters the best-dressed kids in town.

The young fashionistettes will tread the catwalk with the grown-ups at the Spring Racing Carnival.

It's a growing trend, this adultification of children. (Is adultification really a word? Well, it is now.)

Junior MasterChef has kicked off again and the kids are sharpening their knives (literally, I hope, not figuratively).

Little girls are being primped and preened into living Barbie dolls in beauty pageants that mimic Miss World or Miss Universe.

And I read this week that some childcare centres are now offering gyms for tots who want to muscle up.

Most of it is harmless fun - just kids acting out adult roles, which they do anyway.

But sometimes you get the vibe there's a desperate parent in the wings pushing young Oscar or Ophelia into the spotlight.

"Go on, darling, be famous. Now."

Judging by the number of people who dig Junior MasterChef, I'd say TV is ripe for any number of Junior shows.

How about Junior CSI? A crack team of mini-sleuths would try to solve mysteries like who stole Tom's lunch money and who wrote the rude word on the blackboard.

There could be forensic tests for girl germs and boy germs.

Anyone under suspicion could then appear on Junior LA Law to be judged by a jury of their peers.

Most of the legal debate would be along the lines of: "Did so, did not, did so, did not."

Junior Renovators: The Cubby House. That could work.

Junior Survivor? Dump a bunch of kids on a remote island and see what happens.

It would probably end up something like William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, with tribalism and superstition taking over.

Actually, that doesn't sound too bad. UNICEF may have some issues with it, though.

Junior Room for Improvement. This would involve kids tidying up their rooms. Yes, I know, we're moving into the realms of science fiction.

Adultification is not a great problem if the kids instigate it themselves.

Some youngsters are more advanced than others and are quite capable of handling the glare of attention and loss of privacy that comes with public exposure. But I'd hazard a guess most kids aren't ready for it.

You only have to look at the long list of child stars who went screwy after having their childhoods snatched away. The wacko Jacko story is still far from over.

One of my young son's mates surprised me a little recently when he said he wished he was famous. When I asked why, he said: "Because if you're famous you get rich."

When I asked why he wanted to be rich, he said: "So I can build a ninja fortress."

When you think about it, what other reason could there be?

What do you think? Are kids growing up too fast?