Just a reminder to all the new followers that I'm a devout Catholic, prolife, and refuse to engage in conversations with petty people. I wish kindness on all of you but if that's not what you're here for you are free to unfollow or even block.
Yet another thing I've seen in parenting groups that weirds me the fuck out
Liberal, sex positive parents who teach their kids the correct words for parts, don't shame them for curiousity, and respect their ability to understand things- BUT when it comes to weapons, killing, or any type of death, they're immediately helpless pearl clutchers talking about trauma and teaching aggression
AND THEN they also cry bc they don't know how to fear-monger to their young children about school shootings when they've carefully ensured the child has never been exposed to the concept of death and has no idea what a gun is
Either your kid can understand difficult topics or they can't. And either your kid needs to know what violence and death are or they don't.
Make it make sense
Ngl the entire concept of purposely making sure your kid doesn't know what death is creeps me out. What the hell kind of sanitized life do you lead where your 5yo has never encountered a dead thing, they don't understand they're eating animals, and they think their cat/fish/grandma just up and left their life. And what is this accomplishing
Honestly grow a fucking pair and explain shit to your kids you shitty little cowards
I'm reminded of that post that popped up around the time dracula got big on here (I think it was spurred by a little girl being part of her friend's funeral procession in the book or something, and readers getting weirded out by it) that pointed out that for all modern society makes fun of the victorians for sexual prudishness, we've essentially just flipped it around and developed the same thing with a "mortality prudishness."
I was at my dad's funeral at age 5 and I knew before hand that he might not get better. I think it made things easier when mom got the call.
I was also at grandma's funeral and before that visited her in the hospital. And great grandpa's funeral as a kid. Might be a cultural thing (we're Finnish) that it isn't hidden that life ends.
Yea but you also got parents going so far in the other direction, having their 4 year old child slaughter a chicken (for example) and prepare it for dinner. Wrong to shield them from the concept of death, also kinda wrong to force that reality on them.
In many parts of the world, killing your dinner is just another chore, and people don't have the privilege of pretending it doesn't happen. That's 100% a first world thing, and even within first world countries you still have farmers.
Both of these stem from ideas that are uniquely modern/first world. First, that sex should have no consequences. Second, that death is unnatural. The issue is that both of these ideas are completely detached from reality. Sex always has consequences and death is embedded in nature.
I wouldn't go so far as to suggest a 4(!) year old should be made to kill any animal (give them a little time to get used to the concept geez) but if they're not aware that things can die, you could literally run into the problem of them being MORE rough and violent and/or neglect pets because they're not aware these actions could literally kill things... also a child who's not aware of the concept of death could blithely put themselves or other children in moral peril, which is already something children do, but moreso if not given adequate warning
To briefly circle back to the whole "liberal parents teaching kids correct anatomical names for parts", as a therapist who has studied trauma and abuse THIS IS ONE OF THE METHODS THAT IS KNOWN TO PREVENT/HIGHLIGHT CHILD ABUSE. If kids know what the actual names of the body parts, when someone teaches them a different/cutesy name for the body part (e.g. a vagina being a cupcake or whatever), then the parent knows they got it from somewhere else. It can also give a sense of normalcy to those parts of the body, rather than shame (which can be exploited and be a reason why the kid doesn't tell a safe adult).
While op's initial point and the subsequent discussion is very valid, I felt the need to say this, because so often abuse gets missed until it is too late. This specific example is more than a result of sex-positivity and is actually really important for protecting kids
It is so key for parents (and other safe adults) to have age-appropriate conversations about both sex and death. It prepares them to live as adults with a healthy understanding of reality, rather than internalized shame
Yes! I read a story about a small girl who was never taught the word vagina and kept saying "XYZ touched my cookie" and her teachers were like ok sucks to be you ig
And she continued getting abused because she was not given the tools to discuss her own body.
Heard a "someone I know" story from my MIL about a little boy who waa able to make the statement "he touched my penis" to get someone convicted and registered as a sex offender.
I'm afraid that I have the worldbuilder's disease and it is terminal.
Fascinating. And where did this disease come from, how is it spread, and what demographics does it affect the most?
these are all the same sort of animal. do you understand.
these are all small skittish creatures that love to bite and are found in drawers of garages and classrooms. they’re all related and in the same small biter family. weird little kids who play with them while they’re distracted and have empathy for them can tame them and become these beasts companions
Thank the Lord someone understands
"Everyone grew silent. It was sunset now, with orange fire burning in the western sky, and shadows falling across all of us."
- Richelle Mead
“and we are having more and more children coming out as transgender, at younger and younger ages. If Tommy wants to play with barbies and make-up—”
teacher is cut off by me banging my head against the wall
Clouds from two colliding air masses, J-Six Ranch, Cochise County, Arizona.
