Reply to Do you let your children call adults by their first names?

Forum Index » Tweens and Teens

Reply to "Do you let your children call adults by their first names?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People who want kids to address them Mrs. Mr. etc while allowing adults to address them by their first name, are on a power trip. [/quote][b]Adults pretending to be overly familiar with kids is what puts kids in a weird spot.[/b] Kids don’t want to be your peers, and adults are the problem when they remove that boundary. [/quote]

I think this gets closest to what is making me feel uncomfortable by the vehemence of the "any distinctions between kids and adults is fascism" crowd here.  The idea that it's a sign of respect for a kid to call an adult Bobby or Claire instead of their name or title blurs the lines between kids and adults, and the existence of those lines is [b]not[/b] just so adults can power trip and ask for curtseys or whatever Hyperbole Hal is on about.  If your daughter is giggling on the phone texting and when asked she tells you it's from Jimmy, it's better to be able to know without digging further that Jimmy is not her 32 year old soccer coach testing the waters with the girls on the team.  Or maybe this thread has reached the point where dick pics from adults are a sign of respect and that the adult that won't send them is a narcissist who thinks they're "above" teenagers.  [/quote]

This is a weird justification. You can't possibly think honorifics would help with that, do you?[/quote]

Maintaining bright lines between adults and kids doesn't help with establishing boundaries?  Yes, I do believe that.  If your kid said "Mr. Harrison" you'd ask to see the texts and intervene.  If your kid is in a high school with 1800 kids you won't think "Jimmy the soccer coach" you'll think "there must be a Jimmy in one of her classes" and take a mental note.  The idea that kids and adults are the same, should be treated as equals, should be friends, and shouldn't have boundaries between them absolutely benefits bad actors.   The person arguing "you're only saying that because there's a 20 year age difference!!!" is right, even though they think it's some kind of gotcha.  A 20 year age difference matters, especially when the younger person is 11-18, and furiously insisting it doesn't or shouldn't or it's wrong to point out makes my Spidey Senses tingle.[/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