Re: Why do you tell yourself that kids can consent?
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2025 10:12 am
A reshash of above but here's my few comments.
1. I was sexually active as a child with an adult and I wasn't traumatized, that's just a fact. I struggled with school with some bullying and I wasn't the smartest kid in school. I had an adult friend who encouraged me in school, listened to me, talked to me respectfully and yes we went on to have a sexual relationship which I enjoyed. It was partly a distraction from everything else in life and it was one person in my life other than my family who cared about me. By modern definitions he groomed me for sex and was a monster and I was a victim even though I know with total certainty that this isn't the case. If grooming is listening to, supporting, caring then it isn't a bad thing and I got as much out of our sexual times as he did. In fact I've talked before how he panicked one day when I snuck out of our family home day, crossed town and went to his house because I was missing him, if anything I was stalking him and it was him who eventually told me we had to cool things off and gradually distance each other.
2. I'm a parent now and my kids have always been smart enough to think independently. No they don't know as much about the world as me, I know less than other people and more than others. My kids have no problem telling me if they don't want a bath tonight, don't want vegetables with their meal, don't want to go visit their grandparents because "their house smells funny", don't want to do their homework. My kids from toddlers through to adulthood have always had opinions, have always asked questions, have always spoken what they are thinking about.
Consent is being able to give permission for something and yes, you need to know what you're giving permission for. I can tickle a child without explaining in advance the process I'm about to follow and how it'll result in electrical signals going to the brain. A child doesn't need to understand biology or agriculture to eat vegetables. My wife and I have different approaches to parenting to a degree.
My wife is authoritarian and gives demands. "Eat your vegetables", "Have a bath now", "Do your homework now", "You have 10 minutes to be ready to get in the car and come to your grandparents", "I will come to your room in 15 minutes to inspect that it's tidy". No consent sought, it's demands. Her argument for this is that kids can't consent and so there's no need to reason with them or talk to them on that level, simple instruction is sufficient since they are children.
My approach is to explain to them and usually they will choose sensibly by themselves. I'll explain why they need to eat healthily, how it'll improve their skin and health. When a little older and they started to get spots this became a super easy conversation because they wanted to be slimmer and not have spots and as I talked them through food options they were rejecting the junk for the healthy foods. They chose even as kids and consented to eating veg.
Explain about why they need a tidy room, the benefit of getting homework done early, why they need to bath, the benefit of having a trip out to see their grandparents. Do they agree to everything? No, of course not, they have their own views and opinions but more often than not they choose sensibly and that usually entails giving consent for something.
My wife now asks me to talk to the kids about things she wants all the time because her top down demand approach rarely works. They don't respect her, they dig in, they don't feel listened to and consent is meaningless to them when given to her. My wife has said many times she can't understand why I can ask them to do the same thing and they'll do it. It's just respect and seeking consent and listening.
So when you say they can't give consent then you are talking from my wifes worldview that a kid is a kid and can't give consent but my experience is different. The reason when I was a kid I loved that adult was because he was my friend, he cared, he listened, he respected when I gave consent and when I said no. I never felt threatened around him, I felt safe and cared for and listened to. Sex was just something fun we did together, it wasn't complicated, it was like tickling or playing a game, it was fun. All these years later I only feel gratitude towards him.
1. I was sexually active as a child with an adult and I wasn't traumatized, that's just a fact. I struggled with school with some bullying and I wasn't the smartest kid in school. I had an adult friend who encouraged me in school, listened to me, talked to me respectfully and yes we went on to have a sexual relationship which I enjoyed. It was partly a distraction from everything else in life and it was one person in my life other than my family who cared about me. By modern definitions he groomed me for sex and was a monster and I was a victim even though I know with total certainty that this isn't the case. If grooming is listening to, supporting, caring then it isn't a bad thing and I got as much out of our sexual times as he did. In fact I've talked before how he panicked one day when I snuck out of our family home day, crossed town and went to his house because I was missing him, if anything I was stalking him and it was him who eventually told me we had to cool things off and gradually distance each other.
2. I'm a parent now and my kids have always been smart enough to think independently. No they don't know as much about the world as me, I know less than other people and more than others. My kids have no problem telling me if they don't want a bath tonight, don't want vegetables with their meal, don't want to go visit their grandparents because "their house smells funny", don't want to do their homework. My kids from toddlers through to adulthood have always had opinions, have always asked questions, have always spoken what they are thinking about.
Consent is being able to give permission for something and yes, you need to know what you're giving permission for. I can tickle a child without explaining in advance the process I'm about to follow and how it'll result in electrical signals going to the brain. A child doesn't need to understand biology or agriculture to eat vegetables. My wife and I have different approaches to parenting to a degree.
My wife is authoritarian and gives demands. "Eat your vegetables", "Have a bath now", "Do your homework now", "You have 10 minutes to be ready to get in the car and come to your grandparents", "I will come to your room in 15 minutes to inspect that it's tidy". No consent sought, it's demands. Her argument for this is that kids can't consent and so there's no need to reason with them or talk to them on that level, simple instruction is sufficient since they are children.
My approach is to explain to them and usually they will choose sensibly by themselves. I'll explain why they need to eat healthily, how it'll improve their skin and health. When a little older and they started to get spots this became a super easy conversation because they wanted to be slimmer and not have spots and as I talked them through food options they were rejecting the junk for the healthy foods. They chose even as kids and consented to eating veg.
Explain about why they need a tidy room, the benefit of getting homework done early, why they need to bath, the benefit of having a trip out to see their grandparents. Do they agree to everything? No, of course not, they have their own views and opinions but more often than not they choose sensibly and that usually entails giving consent for something.
My wife now asks me to talk to the kids about things she wants all the time because her top down demand approach rarely works. They don't respect her, they dig in, they don't feel listened to and consent is meaningless to them when given to her. My wife has said many times she can't understand why I can ask them to do the same thing and they'll do it. It's just respect and seeking consent and listening.
So when you say they can't give consent then you are talking from my wifes worldview that a kid is a kid and can't give consent but my experience is different. The reason when I was a kid I loved that adult was because he was my friend, he cared, he listened, he respected when I gave consent and when I said no. I never felt threatened around him, I felt safe and cared for and listened to. Sex was just something fun we did together, it wasn't complicated, it was like tickling or playing a game, it was fun. All these years later I only feel gratitude towards him.