Golden Slumbers's Mindful Musings: INAPPROPRIATENESS

INAPPROPRIATENESS

'Oh! grandmother,' she said, 'what big ears you have!'

'All the better to hear you with, my child,' was the reply.

'But, grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said.

'All the better to see you with, my dear.'

'But, grandmother, what large hands you have!'

'All the better to hug you with.'

'Oh! but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have!'

'All the better to eat you with!'

And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Red Riding Hood.

                                                                                                            - From Little Red Riding Hood, Brothers Grimm                                                                                                   

In the recent case of a 23 year old man confessing to murdering a 15 year old girl, I was suddenly struck by a feeling of helplessness regarding the safety of my teenage daughter. Knowing that I cannot protect her forever has been giving me some sleepless nights. As a father who wishes to do the right thing by his daughter, and to always be there for her, I’m fully aware it is practically impossible to fulfil these wishes of mine. I can only keep trying.

Today’s article is all about inappropriate behaviour. When you have a man of, say 25, showering attention on your daughter of 14, you definitely will want to put a stop to it because that is as inappropriate as it can get. Girls of the age group between 11 and 16 are highly impressionable and any form of flattery and attention is bound to generate gushing feelings of young love. And as we know, young love can be pretty reckless. While it was almost impossible in my time to have a relationship of this nature and not be found out, the social media platform of today allows for secrecy and before you know it, things can get out hand. My daughter continues to engage in social media activities in the living room, for which I’m very thankful. She protests not with this arrangement, and I love her deeply for that. I have never once been tempted to sneak a peek in her social media life nor do I plan to in future. She knows that I trust her, err… so long as this social communication is done in the living room. I try very hard to treat her like an adult (I do miss that cute 4 year old though) and explain to her why she shouldn’t do certain things and so on. So if she grows up to be like a princess, then I know I have done right by her. If she grows up to be like Bonnie of Bonnie & Clyde infamy, then I’m screwed.

I don’t know how you as a parent might want to approach this subject of inappropriate behaviour, but I think it’s a subject that’s worth thinking deeply about. There are just far too many disturbed people in the world now.