This has been a tough week for many of us. As a parent, what are we to do? How can we begin to talk to our children about this? Should we try? How do we protect our children? How do we make sure they don’t stand by and allow this to happen to others? These and more are the questions I’ve seen asked this week, by you and others.
Gather your children close and love them. Start from a young age to help them understand that they own their bodies and have the right to control what happens to their bodies. Give them micro-moments all through their lives, talking to them about consent, teaching them that they have choice over how their bodies are touched.
Start here, with some great ideas to raise children who are steeped in consent. It’s a list of action items and teaching tools to talk to kids ages 1-21:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/good-men-project/this-is-how-you-teach-kids-about-consent_b_10360296.html
If you have older children, here are some ways to talk to them about this week, this Kavanaugh situation. Take the teachable moment, help them understand bodily autonomy and make sure they have the facts. Be the askable parent, or make sure your children know who else they can talk to. Make sure you are talking to potential perpetrators as well as potential survivors.
https://www.npr.org/2018/09/21/650039170/how-to-talk-to-young-people-about-the-kavanaugh-story
You can finish up with this TED Talk on Body Sovereignty and Kids: How we can cultivate a culture of consent by Monica Rivera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGyo1NrzTY
As always, Rev. Paige, Rev. Anthony, and I are available to talk if you have questions or need pastoral care.
With love, always,
Robin
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