11/07/2023
* Parents/Guardians & Friends.
We need to teach them to trust themselves and their gut instincts.
On Friday I watch a young teen (12-14 year old) girl tell the two teen boys she was with she didn’t want to jump from the cliff into the water. They continued to tell her to jump and “tease” her about not doing it. I watched for a minute, honestly not thinking much of it, until her dad beside me yells over across the water, “just jump honey! You’re kind of being a wimp!” I watched this girls shoulders fall as she peered closer to the ledge and her gears start turning as she pondered if she should just do it. And something just snapped in me and I yelled across “don’t you dare jump! You told those boys no! Tell them to back off and come back over here.” The dad spun around at me, looking pretty pi**ed, and I said “you just told your daughter not to listen to herself. You told her it’s okay for boys, or anyone else, to convince her she should do things she isn’t comfortable with. Sure, today it’s cliff jumping, tomorrow it’s kissing, in a year it’s s*x and drugs. She said no. Support her.” The man’s face changed right on the spot and as his daughter made her way back to where we sat, watching the kids jump he said “thank you” to me and then told her he was sorry and she should always trust her gut. We have talked about consent and s*x a while now. But the lessons aren’t just about s*x. And they start long before we are old enough to even think about s*x. No means no, for everything. Trust your gut and your boundaries. It’ll save you a lot of grief in a lot of places. Teach your kids to trust their No and to accept other peoples no the first time. Alright y’all, carry on with your scrolling 😘
*Copied from a friend *