Banner ad seen on Sitemetre.com:
“When you have that father-son talk
Don’t leave out the hardest part.
Teach boys that violence against women is wrong.”
Huh??
“Teach early. Click Here To Learn How”
So I click through. Out of curiousity sake. And I see an article abstract which says, “October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month” and another which says “In a move that was widely anticipated by experts and those close to the case, the judge in the sexual assault trial against Kobe Bryant yesterday dropped criminal charges against the basketball star.”
Nothing about how the “hardest” part of a father-son talk is about violence against women.
I’ve got four sons. The eldest is 16. Have had a number of “father-son” talks with him. Discuss violence against women with him? What for? What he’s been taught is respect for individuals (regardless of gender) and respect for property.
My 14 year is the same way. The hardest father-son talk I had to have with him was some years ago, as we drove under a bridge with graffiti on it, that said something like “Janet eats cum.” He read it and asked me, “Dad, what is cum?”
My 12 year old has his own sense of justice. A tough little kid that he is, he’ll stick up for all the loners in the class that get picked on. He even took a punch in the face for a kid that was being bullied as he stood up to the bully in defence of the other kid. But lash out at anyone? Only his old man, when we’re play fighting.
Then there’s my 2 year old. I guess I’m making the “hardest part” easy by singing to him, “Ye Darenie Shove Yer Granny Off A Bus.”
I wonder why the Family Violence Prevention Fund assumes that teaching boys that violence against women is wrong is the “hardest” part.
Are they making some assumptions about men in general here, by any chance?