The brochure in OP's post really makes my blood boil! If that's not grooming, I don't know what! We need to instill the power to say NO! to our children as early as possible. Read on for my experience:
When I was little, we were raised to obey our elders. I had to give hugs and kisses to relatives that visited that I didn't know and who smelled funny and who gave me big wet mouth kisses and too-long hugs. I hated it. I also had to run and kiss my dad on the mouth when he came home from work with my siblings who all were thrilled to see him, but I didn't want to do that. I can't put my finger on why really, I just didn't want to give him physical affection and would hide under the table when he got home.
A teenage neighbor always wanted me to sit on his lap when I was a little girl and then he'd put his hands around my waist and run his fingers under the waistband on my pants. I felt like I had to sit there when he asked me to, because kids had to obey their elders. But it always felt creepy and I'd try to get up and runaway whenever I could.
I remember wondering why I had to go against my own natural instincts. I vowed to never do that to my own children and so, I didn't.
When my kids were old enough to understand, I let them know that if ever they did not feel right about someone giving them affection or asking for affection they were to say, "No!" and I would back them up.
My brother and I got into it when my 2-year-old son refused to kiss & hug him one time. He said, "He has to hug me, I'm his uncle!" I told him, "No he does not. If he doesn't want to, that is his right. Leave him be!"
I also told my kids that if anyone told them to 'keep a secret' that they had to tell me and I would decide if the secret should be kept and they would not get in any trouble for telling me, no matter what. Boy, that turned out to be important!
A neighbor girl who was older than my son by several years and perhaps a little bit on the special needs spectrum, would come over with a group of kids and invite my son to play with them all. Her Dad worked from home and told us neighborhood Mom's he'd be there to supervise their playtime if the kids came over.
Turns out this girl told the kids 'not to tell' a secret. My son came home and told me immediately. Seems she had been stealing the mail out of all the neighbor's mailboxes on the street and setting it all on fire with a box of matches on the side of her house while the younger kids watched. She was 12. Of course, I put a stop to it right then.
Another time my 6-year-old son came home from a playdate with the neighbor boy who was 2 years older, but just one grade ahead as his parents had held him back 'due to immaturity' allegedly. My son confessed that the boy had gotten out a big sleeping bag that they crawled into and the boy wanted them to pull their pants down and do 'things' to each other. My son didn't want to and came home. He seemed agitated and nervous and embarrassed to tell me. He couldn't articulate why it seemed bad to him because the boy told him it was OK and would be their 'secret' so then he knew he'd better tell me!
I cannot tell you how fast I had that boy's mother on the phone and how hoarse my voice was from screaming at her - she was a minister's daughter and was very religious and was home when all this happened, but had allowed her son to close and lock the bedroom door! WTH. We literally moved within months from that neighborhood!
Nevertheless, my kids developed strong sense of selves in which they knew they alone could decide to refuse or accept whatever came their way without being shamed or coerced by their peers or 'others'.
The brochure in OP's post really makes my blood boil! If that's not grooming, I don't know what! We need to instill the power to say NO! to our children as early as possible. Read on for my experience:
When I was little, we were raised to obey our elders. I had to give hugs and kisses to relatives that visited that I didn't know and who smelled funny and who gave me big wet mouth kisses and too-long hugs. I hated it. I also had to run and kiss my dad on the mouth when he came home from work with my siblings who all were thrilled to see him, but I didn't want to do that. I can't put my finger on why really, I just didn't want to give him physical affection and would hide under the table when he got home.
A teenage neighbor always wanted me to sit on his lap when I was a little girl and then he'd put his hands around my waist and run his fingers under the waistband on my pants. I felt like I had to sit there when he asked me to, because kids had to obey their elders. But it always felt creepy and I'd try to get up and runaway whenever I could.
I remember wondering why I had to go against my own natural instincts. I vowed to never do that to my own children and so, I didn't.
When my kids were old enough to understand, I let them know that if ever they did not feel right about someone giving them affection or asking for affection they were to say, "No!" and I would back them up.
My brother and I got into it when my 2-year-old son refused to kiss & hug him one time. He said, "He has to hug me, I'm his uncle!" I told him, "No he does not. If he doesn't want to, that is his right. Leave him be!"
I also told my kids that if anyone told them to 'keep a secret' that they had to tell me and I would decide if the secret should be kept and they would not get in any trouble for telling me, no matter what. Boy, that turned out to be important!
A neighbor girl who was older than my son by several years and perhaps a little bit on the special needs spectrum, would come over with a group of kids and invite my son to play with them all. Her Dad worked from home and told us neighborhood Mom's he'd be there to supervise their playtime if the kids came over.
Turns out this girl told the kids 'not to tell' a secret. My son came home and told me immediately. Seems she had been stealing the mail out of all the neighbor's mailboxes on the street and setting it all on fire with a box of matches on the side of her house while the younger kids watched. She was 12. Of course, I put a stop to it right then.
Another time my 6-year-old son came home from a playdate with the neighbor boy who was 2 years older, but just one grade ahead as his parents had held him back 'due to immaturity' allegedly. My son confessed that the boy had gotten out a big sleeping bag that they crawled into and the boy wanted them to pull their pants down and do 'things' to each other. My son didn't want to and came home. He seemed agitated and nervous and embarrassed to tell me. He couldn't articulate why it seemed bad but the boy told him it was OK and would be their 'secret' so he knew he'd better tell me!
I cannot tell you how fast I had that boy's mother on the phone and how hoarse my voice was from screaming at her - she was a minister's daughter and was very religious and was home when all this happened, but had allowed her son to close and lock the bedroom door! WTH. We literally moved within months from that neighborhood!
Nevertheless, my kids developed strong sense of selves in which they knew they alone could decide to refuse or accept whatever came their way without being shamed or coerced by their peers or 'others'.