The world that we live in, is not the same innocent world it seemed to be 20 years ago. Maybe it was me that was innocent and the world was not. I’m not sure. But my eyes are wide open now as a Mother, and to the environment that I raise my children in.
When I was in second grade the thought of sexual harassment was far from my mind. I didn’t even now what sex was.
So here’s the problem, or the eye opening experience that I have dealt with this month…
While making dinner, I was listening to my daughter babble on… for what seemed like forever. (In the mean time three other little girls run around my legs like crazy kitty cats waiting to be fed.) Usually this ends in my mind going numb and me hearing blah, blah, blah. Fortunately this particular night I was able to actually hear my daughter speak.
Some boys at school are making her feel uncomfortable. Constantly harassing her, trying to kiss her, drawing (what she says are) not good pictures of her. Talking about kissing her and getting naked in a hot tub, and she spells out quietly S-E-X….. WHAT THE????
Wait… HOLD UP!! I try to remain calm, not over react and speak as calmly as possible.
“What did they say exactly? When? Where? Where was the teacher? And so on…”
I ask if she knows what that word is that she spelled out?? Thank goodness, NO she doesn’t.
My immediate response is to kill these kids. But that’s not the problem! I want to kill their parents!! What kind of world do we live in? She's in second grade! I started thinking about taking her out of school and home schooling her. But will that help? Will I be over protecting her too much? Should I allow her to experience life as a young girl, teach her how to react to these situations and hope that the next time someone makes her feel uncomfortable that she will stand up for herself.
Bottom line is… She’s beautiful. She will have to deal with boys bugging her for the rest of her life. It’s a fact of life. HOWEVER, she should never feel like she can’t stand up for herself and that she deserves to be sexually belittled. She is a beautiful, smart, young lady and deserves the up most respect. It’s my job as mom to teach her to value herself as a woman, value her body and live virtuously.
I encourage you Mom’s out there with little boys to teach them to be respectful to women, never to sexually degrade them and always be respectful.
Turns out, the ring leader (the worst boy) has moved. I did speak to the Principal and had the boys reseated away from Ashlyn. The principal spoke with both boys involved and assured me that they will have nothing but polite things to say to Ashlyn from here on out. He also spoke to their parents.
As for now… problem solved. But I will forever and always try to listen when my kids talk! Because you never know how extremely important their babbling may be.
Best wishes to all!
Jen
