While she says teachers are on the front lines, and she’s right, it’s not necessarily their responsibility to fix this problem beyond addressing it as it comes up.
The onus is largely on the parents, but more importantly, it should be on all men to call this shit out as they see it.
Little Bobby on your son’s hockey team is spouting drivel and you’re the coach? Don’t just sit there and go ‘meh, ain’t my kid’ - call it out. Talk about it. Penalize them if you have to. Rely on the systems already in place (like inclusion/safe space policies in sports leagues) to have your back when you have to act.
You’re out supervising your kid and someone else’s kid playing and their kids start up with ‘women want to be raped’ - call that shit out. Shut it down. You might have an awkward conversation later with the parent, but any parent worth their salt will be ripping a strip off their kid if they find out how they have been acting.
I feel like a lot of people are afraid to call out stuff like this because they’re worried about the backlash they may face, or get shamed for not considering the offender’s feelings. Offenders shouldn’t feel safe, and lack of action only emboldens them. Not very long ago, it used to be if you said something stupid, you got relentlessly mocked. We’ve moved away from that, and now every opinion is seen as equal; even the harmful ones.
Couldn’t agree more. Parenting failures are the root of so much (though being charitable, there are many parents in working conditions that basically destroy their ability to parent effectively). Regardless of parents, any kid is shaped (raised) in big ways by the communities they participate in. I’ve got no problem telling a little knucklehead - even one I’ve never met - to quit mistreating folks in various ways when I see it. And I wish more people would too.
But I also recognize that has the potential to really blow up (even violently) depending on the kid’s parents and the scenario. But still, many of us just recoil from even the idea of a disagreement, and that’s the mechanism that allows this stuff to fester in our youth. Take responsibility for your society, be mean to a kid who needs it today!
While she says teachers are on the front lines, and she’s right, it’s not necessarily their responsibility to fix this problem beyond addressing it as it comes up.
The onus is largely on the parents, but more importantly, it should be on all men to call this shit out as they see it.
Little Bobby on your son’s hockey team is spouting drivel and you’re the coach? Don’t just sit there and go ‘meh, ain’t my kid’ - call it out. Talk about it. Penalize them if you have to. Rely on the systems already in place (like inclusion/safe space policies in sports leagues) to have your back when you have to act.
You’re out supervising your kid and someone else’s kid playing and their kids start up with ‘women want to be raped’ - call that shit out. Shut it down. You might have an awkward conversation later with the parent, but any parent worth their salt will be ripping a strip off their kid if they find out how they have been acting.
I feel like a lot of people are afraid to call out stuff like this because they’re worried about the backlash they may face, or get shamed for not considering the offender’s feelings. Offenders shouldn’t feel safe, and lack of action only emboldens them. Not very long ago, it used to be if you said something stupid, you got relentlessly mocked. We’ve moved away from that, and now every opinion is seen as equal; even the harmful ones.
Make morons afraid again.
Couldn’t agree more. Parenting failures are the root of so much (though being charitable, there are many parents in working conditions that basically destroy their ability to parent effectively). Regardless of parents, any kid is shaped (raised) in big ways by the communities they participate in. I’ve got no problem telling a little knucklehead - even one I’ve never met - to quit mistreating folks in various ways when I see it. And I wish more people would too.
But I also recognize that has the potential to really blow up (even violently) depending on the kid’s parents and the scenario. But still, many of us just recoil from even the idea of a disagreement, and that’s the mechanism that allows this stuff to fester in our youth. Take responsibility for your society, be mean to a kid who needs it today!