Consent is everything! Here are some helpful tips--a LOT of them-- for kids ages 1-21! Check it out...

It’s not an unusual scene: the kids are running through the house, chasing each other, playing tag, tackling, tickling. Friends are over and the girls have jumped in with the boys. Everyone is giggling and having a great time. Then I notice my boys (ages four and six) corner their little friend (a four year old girl) and I notice her face changes expression. What was once a cheeky smile and glint in her eye is replaced by apprehension and reservation. She no longer wants to play this chasing game but she doesn’t have the words to say no or articulate why.

As parents, the concept of consent is one of the most important lessons to teach our children. What they learn from us is their first and best line of defense.

For many of us, the word “consent” is heavily intertwined with the word “sex,” making the concept something we would only broach with an older child.

We all have that memory of being a little kid and being forced to hug some lumpy, smelly stranger at a holiday family gathering. Maybe you even had to kiss them too, and the grossness of those slimy foreign lips is imprinted in your mind forever. I know it is for me, and that’s why I don’t make my kids hug or kiss anyone, ever.

Check out these cool illustrations that help teach consent to young ones. Descriptions of images are included. 

What do you mean my child shouldn't be forced to hug anyone? Not even their own grandparents? James St. James explains in this insightful article why not forcing your child to hug anyone is important and helps encourage healthy boundaries at an early age.

"Sex positive" is a term that has been gaining more attention in recent years. A social and philosophical response to repressed, limited, and often judgmental attitudes toward sex and sexuality, the sex positive movement emphasizes that "good sex" is defined as safe, informed, consensual, and whatever else it also is beyond those things is best left up to the people participating in the act. Find out more by reading the article. 

Teaching children about bodily autonomy is an important part of preventing sexual abuse. Find out more by checking out this blog post from Vibrant Wanderings.