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I don’t have kids. That was a choice I made many years ago. I’m usually quite happy with the decision.
Now and then when I see a six-year-old play the drums to Metallica on YouTube or am immensely impressed by kids like the students in Parkland Florida who refuse to be victims, I think that is the type of child I’d want to have.
Today, I came across an article on Time.com called How to Raise a Sweet Son in an Era of Angry Men, and my first thought was could a sweet son even make it today?
Men and women, both, seem so angry these days. Anger doesn’t only show up in violence and shootings; it shows up on social media and how we talk (or refuse to) each other in daily life. Divisions are sharper than ever and I fear that the kind, the gentle, the sweet kids get trampled by it all.
The author, Faith Salie, says, “Because this is what the world needs now, urgently: sweet boys and people who grow them.” She covers many of the ways old messages still reach young children, reminding boys that can be whatever they want, while girls can feel whatever (mostly) they want.
Sweet boys grow up to be men who recognize the strength in being vulnerable and empathetic. Men who aren’t threatened by criticism or perceived competition from people whom they deem “Other” — be it skin color or sexual orientation or religion or education or whatever. Sweet boys are children who’ve been given, by their parents and wider society, the permission to feel everything and to express those emotions without shame.
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Whether you are a parent or not, I encourage to read the article.
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Photo credit: Getty Images
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