One of the most important ways of helping our children learn about relationships is by setting them a positive example. Guys especially you need to be careful about the way you react, talk about and treat women. It needs to be in a respectful manner rather than objectifying women as sex objects.
But it’s not just the guys these days. I’ve met my share of women who want to objective guys and talk about what a cute butt they have etc and they’re not all young women either. If we want our children to grow up with a healthy respect for themselves and their bodies and also for the opposite sex then we have to give them an example to follow.
The guy who makes snide or sexy comments about other women is telling his daughter and son effectively how he views women. Of course the same applies in reverse.
The other thing is being careful about clothes choices. Think about what the T shirt slogan is really saying. I have seen any number and I can’t imagine what the parents were thinking to let young children go out in them. If parents don’t learn to say ‘no’ to what is inappropriate while children are young, what hope have they got when they get to teenage years? Talk to them and explain why the message is not something you would want them to wear. Then contact the company and state your objections to what they are doing.
We are not as powerless as you might think. Many products and campaigns have been stopped by concerned people protesting, like the rape game video game which came out of Japan has been banned in Australia after protest.
Unfortunately, other countries have allowed it. You have to wonder how we can have laws that say rape is a crime and then allow a game like this. It’s not that big a jump from playing the game to turning it into reality, because these things all affect the mind set of the person and their attitudes. So be careful about the types of games your children have.
Also monitor TV viewing and let young children only watch appropriate TV shows. Watch shows with them and talk about the content.
For more information on what you can do go to www.collectiveshout.org and then act.
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