It's all over the
news. I'm kind of sick of hearing about Steubenville, Ohio. I'm not sure there is one answer to this pandemic rape problem. I'm not concerned about victims and aggressors, punishments, and futures. I don't have answers to those. I'm only interested in what I can do for my children. Maybe I'll catch flack for this, but it's something I've thought about as the mother of girls.
Where are their parents? All of them.
All the kids at these parties, whoever hosted these parties, where are the adults? Who was in charge? Who held ownership? Would my parents have ever allowed a party growing up? Absolutely not. I didn't even have birthday parties! It will be a cold day in hell before my mother allows throngs of people in her house, ever. Of course there were the
my folks are out of town parties, and kids lie and say they're places they're not, but somewhere there had to be someone that could loosely be classified as an adult. They just don't hand beer over to teenagers anymore and no one is going to raid there parents stash for a party and not get caught.
Are there no longer rules of conduct? You go to parties with your friends, to parties with people you know. It's the buddy system. While it's not fool proof, it's a start. Maybe they should start teaching high schoolers not to put their drinks down too, just incase. I'm pretty sure I knew that. I also knew limits. I was going to have to drive myself home, and I could only plow into Papa's truck so many times trying to park my car before I would wake him up. Do kids not have curfews anymore? I'm pretty sure my parents set an alarm at midnight just to make sure my car was out front. My parents weren't necessarily harsh, but there were two rules:
- Curfew is 12.
- Don't come home in the back of a squad car.
Of course I realize that kids will be kids, they will live and learn. They will make poor decisions. Certainly not my kids, but maybe yours- LOL! Certainly someone bothered to teach their children to respect their bodies and the bodies of others, no?! I operate under the assumption that I am alone in the world, that the only person I can rely on is myself. I find it works well. I don't assume that people will be kind or considerate. If someone smashes my car in the parking lot, I would be completely surprised to see a note on my windshield. This is something I hope I pass on to my ladies.
See if my ladies find their way to the dark side and are have a glorious time, I want them to have in the back of their minds that no one is going to take care of them or have pity on them. I want them to know the world is a cruel, harsh place; people will take advantage of you if you put yourself in compromising situations.
Lesson: think long and hard about putting yourself in compromising situations.
As I am raised two young ladies, everyday I remind them that they are responsible for themselves and their actions. Actions have consequences, you decide your actions. I've also started to hammer in personal space. We keep our hands to ourselves. We ask to touch other people. We ask other people not to touch us if necessary. We show people respect in doing so.
Will this keep them out of harms way in the future, I have not a clue. Do I feel like I am doing the best I can to help form crackerjack three year olds into respectable and productive members of society? Absolutely.
