Reply to are kids feeling a pressure to identify to their peers?

Forum Index » LGBTQIA+ Issues and Relationship Discussion

Reply to "are kids feeling a pressure to identify to their peers?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Im asking because my daughter, now almost 13, is questioning if she is attracted to girls as well as boys. She has my acceptance no matter what, but I cant help but to notice that this exchange of information about "sexual orientation" began among her friends as early as 8.

I have artist friends who are non binary and raising a non binary child, who is now 8. They regularly post fascinating updates and testimonials of their life and the issues they confront also as disabled persons, and I learn about all kinds of labels, in their context being used to describe as accurately as possible their experiences and realities (Not to just slap labels around).

So they posted about their child having identified as "Pre-sexual". I thought this was so brilliant, and to me it seems like a great way to address that sexual orientation is SEXUAL, at least to some extent, and without sexual engagement, maybe there is no need to identify orientation, especially publicly.

This is of course my interpretation, and it may not be correct, of this "label".

Where my concern kicks in is the potential for kids to feel they MUST have an answer to this question for their peers, because their peers expect them to have an answer, in the form of a label, not a discussion or sharing of the challenge presented by the question itself or any related issues. Although of course it could become a starting point for that, in kids old / mature enough to create that safe space.

Of course I would want to ask anyone here who is an adult if it would have been helpful to them to have these kinds of questions asked of them and the openness and options of the labels and if it would have diminished any personal struggle they experienced.

And finally: what about privacy? I had to introduce my daughter to the idea of privacy in these matters. That intimate and sexual topics and the struggles they may produce are not actually a required item to divulge openly. Its still perfectly legit to consider these matters privately or with deeply vetted trusted persons only until something emerges that seems solid and ready for the next level of discussion/sharing.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics