Respect and Consent: Teaching Kids to Understand Consent and Respect in Relationships
I was at the playground when I heard my six-year-old daughter say to a boy who was trying to pull her off the swing, “Stop. I’m not done yet, and you need to ask before you touch me.” The boy stopped, looked surprised, and walked away. The boy’s mother caught my eye with an expression I couldn’t quite read. But what I felt was profound gratitude—not for my daughter’s defiance, but for the months of consent practice that had given her the language and confidence to assert her bodily autonomy in a moment when it mattered. ...