Reply to Yet another post about 5-6 year old boys in the women's changing/bathroom at the pool.

Forum Index » Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers

Reply to "Yet another post about 5-6 year old boys in the women's changing/bathroom at the pool."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is going to be my last post on this subject.

I debated whether to even bother with this one or not.

A little while ago I asked my daughters if they think that their brother is too old to be going in the women's locker room with us anymore. They said that they don't think that it's a problem yet, but that they figure that this should be the last year that I take him in with us. They said that they know that he does not ever stare at their body parts, but that if he starts to do that, that it will be time to start sending him into the men's locker room instead. But in general, they think that some of you are making a big deal out of nothing.

As for the little girl from my son's class, she was 7 at the time, not 17, and she showed no signs of embarrassment that I could tell, and the same goes for her mother. If they didn't care, then I don't really care what a bunch of strangers on the internet think.

I will probably continue to take my son in with us for the next year, unless we receive any complaints. If we do receive complaints then I'll figure something else out.

One last thought to leave you with. How would any of you parents feel if you let strangers on the internet to talk you into sending your son into the men's locker room alone, and he wound up being molested or harmed in some other way? I know that the odds are everything would be OK if he went in alone, fortunately.

But There are no guarantees.

I would much rather some women feel slightly awkward for a few minutes than have something happen to my son.

Thank you to those of you who have made suggestions to me without trying to insult me![/quote]

If you read Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker, he has some very useful strategies for teaching your child how to start looking after their own welfare and avoiding molestation. It would be great for you to read those parts of the book and use his advice to help your son know what to look out for and avoid molestation while he is in the men's locker room by himself.  [b]Another great resource is a dvd called The Safe Side by John Walsh. [/b] I have watched that with my girls many times, and it is very kid friendly.  You all could watch that movie together, then discuss how it applies to the locker room situation.  You can be with your son for now in the locker room, but you can't be with him all the time.  It's time to start arming him with some information and strategies for him to be safe when he is on his own without you.  [/quote]

OP here.  Thanks for this.  I'm prepping my son for using the men's room on his own by doing this "pilot project" at our neighborhood pool where the men's room is small and I feel I know most people.  He's not ready for big restrooms on his own at movie theaters, etc., but this is just the type of resource that would be helpful for us.  Because it really is all about giving our kids the knowledge and the skills to help keep themselves safe.  We can't be everywhere all the time.  And hopefully do it in a way that doesn't scare the bejezus out of them and make them paranoid.  I'll get this and watch it first, and see how it goes.  [/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