Do not hit children as “discipline”. It’s been proven time and time again that hitting children repeatedly, especially combined with phycological child abuse leads to less healthy outcomes. In fact, I believe the united states needs to keep up with the rest of the developed world and criminalize “spanking”. Children are not property of parents, they are individuals with their own rights. In countries where spanking is illegal, there is less teen violence.
Another note of respecting children’s boundaries, do not coerce children to hug or give kisses to others. Yes I know it maybe done for platonic reasons, but when I was coerced into kissing an adult family member, I felt uncomfortable because for me, kisses are not for platonic reasons but romantic type stuff. It grosses me out having to kiss an adult for that reason. Also, do not coerce children to give hugs.
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Well, I agree that no one, including a child, should be forced to kiss anyone else, but I don’t think we can allow the family kiss to be annihilated by someone’s memory of childhood squeamishness being twisted by moral-panic politics. To make every kiss sexual so that any kiss done by a child with a relative or another child can inspire horror and shock is such a dementor-like level of control-freakery that it practically makes your red blood lose its colour even to read it. Banish this idea to dystopian fictions about societies gone drastically wrong.
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It depends on what cultural background you come from, perhaps. Try telling an Italian or Greek that you think kissing family members is a sexual thing. It won’t go well.
I agree with you about spanking or any other violent physical “discipline” of children. It is a barbaric custom that has no place in the civilized world.