Our society is well into a journey of how to ‘unlearn’ certain things that have been around for ages. For some reason, many habits and behaviors have been magically normalized so people are now trying to challenge these notions. One of these social aspects revolves around kids, adults, hugs, and kisses. While it seems like a sweet gesture to make the grandparents happy, kids giving free hugs and kisses to adults has become a heated topic in this online community and various social media outlets.
Bored Panda has already covered a mom calling out the aforementioned grandparents expecting their grandchildren to just shower them in hugs and kisses. And this time we’re diving deeper to hear out what parents have to say about their kids' bodily autonomy and consent.
Parents online are now not only teaching their kids what bodily autonomy is, but also rewarding the display of it
Image credits: curlyhairedone
These moms shared that they have no problems making others uncomfortable if it means that their kids know the value of bodily independence
Image credits: curlyhairedone
Parents online have been buzzing discussing that there is no shame in making someone uncomfortable by rewarding their children for displays of bodily autonomy. This mom that goes under the name of swedpea on Imgur is truly having her daughter's back and confirming that saying no is actually ok and no guilt should arise from it. She shared that people who try to hug her daughter would give her looks when her daughter would politely say no to a hug. What the mom actually does is demonstrating that there is no need to do anything that one’s not comfortable with.
Some people need to be told told twice that kids do not want to be hugged or kissed and it's their choice
Image credits: curlyhairedone
People who work with children have also shared their experience and expertise. User ineeduhnap, who works with five-year-olds, made sure to have a conversation about how everyone’s body belongs to themselves and no one else. They highlighted that even wanting to hug your friend should be first double-checked with them and if the answer is actually a no, it should be respected. Turns out that the kids actually didn’t even have a problem asking that all the time and when presented with a negative response, they were not put off and just went on with their life as usual.
Image credits: curlyhairedone
This other mom, Brittany Baxter, shared a video that went viral, sharing that she has been teaching her 2-year-old daughter consent and adults—how to respect that. The mom from Australia that Bored Panda wrote about a few months back was calling for the normalization of the fact that kids do not have to kiss and hug adults. This sparked quite a few debates and well, fetched Brittany over 58k likes on her viral video, showing that people do care about this social issue.
This mom on TikTok called for normalization of the fact that kids do not have to kiss and hug adults
Image credits: brittanybaxter_x
She gave an example of the grandparents and how they expect their grandchildren to shower them with love
Image credits: brittanybaxter_x
Brittany strongly stands by her opinion that kids and their bodies are not there to make anyone to feel more loved
Image credits: brittanybaxter_x
Brittany had a series of videos regarding the topic of children and consent, but in this particular one, she stresses that adults should be more helpful and considerate when it comes to accepting kids' choice of declining to hug and kiss. She says that people shouldn’t complain that they need to ask permission from kids to hug, and that the most important feelings in this story are nobody’s but her daughter's.
Image credits: brittanybaxter_x
Image credits: brittanybaxter_x
And here is the viral video Brittany posted on her TikTok
Users online shared their own experience and opinion, some even remembering what it was like to experience the lack of bodily autonomy in their childhood
