Women’s Web is saying Goodbye! Please make sure you read this important notification.
Starting early, teach your child that they never have to feel bad about disliking any adult or being uncomfortable around them.
Recently, during a casual mom and daughter chat, the two of us were just taking stock of the ‘trusted adults’ in our circle.
The dot pipes in, “Amma, I really like XYZ aunty but don’t really feel fully comfortable with Uncle XYZ”.
I say okay and wait…
“…Amma, it’s not that he has ever given me cause feel uncomfortable…it is just that I somehow don’t feel fully okay…”
She paused. I could sense the slight glimmer of ‘self-doubt’ in her own judgement. But I wait. It comes.
“Amma, am I wrong? Is it okay if I don’t feel comfortable about someone who has not given me any reason to feel so…”
“Listen child…it is perfectly okay. Remember, you never, ever have to explain yourself for not feeling comfortable about someone or something. Trust your instinct and stay away. You have every right to say, ‘I do not like this’ and move away…always. Never allow anyone to compel you into validating why you feel something or someone is not right. Not now, not ever. And, that someone can be anyone, be it your close kin, a teacher, your parent’s trusted ally…whosoever.”
Now, look at ‘this’ conversation in the light of the ongoing Chennai Schools abuse issue. Social media is now replete with a new wave of #metoo incidents. What breaks the soul, even more, is the fact that this time the victims are all children. One story hit me really hard… a survivor who recounted her harrowing experience. What affected her more than the incident itself was the fact that her parents did not stand up for her!
Start young. Look your children in the eye and tell them you are there for them, no matter what! Talk to your kids. Yes, both girls and boys. Teach them it’s okay to say ‘No’ without guilt.
Image credits Photo by Mumtahina Tanni from Pexels
I write about Life, as I see it... It is my lifeline to sanity. A psychiatric social worker by training, an erst while journalist by chance, technical writer by plan and now, a home maker read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Dear Women’s Web Community Member,
You may have wondered at our being on the quieter side during the last couple of months. Thank you for your patience, and we wanted to come back to you with a detailed note on what’s been happening at our end of things.
When we first began Women’s Web, as a blog from one woman’s desk along with a few like-minded souls, little could we have imagined the heights that it would soar to. Over the years, Women’s Web has published over 20000 stories (almost all by women), empowered countless women with the ideas, community and resources to chase their dreams, employed hundreds of women in core and project-based roles, and in the process, emerged as the OG women’s community in India. It has also inspired many others to build communities of a similar nature, all enabling women (and other-underrepresented groups) in their own ways.
Please enter your email address