How to Teach Your Child about Consent

Consent is all about establishing and maintaining boundaries. Whether it be with strangers or even parents too, the concept of consent is something that all modern parents are teaching their children from a young age. 

With increasing cases of sexual crimes against people of all ages, teaching consent becomes more important. 

However, how do you do that?

This can be a tough topic to teach and make them understand. Thus, Tinibees is here to help you!

Tinibees is a premium baby products brand. We have a range of products which caters to every need of newborn life. From apparel, and footwear to diapering, we’ve got it all!

 We have curated a list of tips to get a head start on how to teach your child about consent.

Let’s learn!

1. Ask for their permission

Before you click off this page, stop and think about it. Everything kids do, their practice starts at home. As a parent, you are their first teacher and they are the safest with you. So, it makes total sense for you to incorporate consent from a young age by asking them various questions such as “Can I change your clothes?”, “Do you want to play?” etc. Depending on their answer, you could decide on an activity to do the same.  You respect their opinion, would make them realize that their opinion is as important as anyone else which would make them respect others’ opinions too.

2. Teach them to say ‘No’

Often, kids are always expected to say yes.  Whether it be giving hugs and kisses to their relatives or putting up a performance for them, their say does not matter.  Therefore, we often put our children into situations that they are not comfortable with.  Teaching them to say no to situations that make them uncomfortable or ignite a sense of fear or disdain in their heart can help them establish strong and healthy boundaries from a very young age which can help them in adulthood too.

3. Teach them about gut feelings

Teach your kids about gut feelings by asking them if they felt weird or scared while doing something or being with someone and listen to their answers carefully.  Make them understand that the voice in their head can be correct sometimes. If they don’t know what to do,  reassure them that they can always ask for help from you.

4. Teach them to ask for permission as well

As a parent,  you will have to teach your child about asking for permission. Whether it’s about hugging a friend goodbye, or using their friends’ toys, consent matters everywhere!  By teaching your child about consent, they will learn to respect others’ opinions and develop empathy towards them.  It can be hard to make them understand if their friend says no to a hug but you can provide them with alternatives such as waving or giving a high-five.

Parting Words

 While the journey of teaching your child about consent is full of bumps and roadblocks, this is an important lesson to teach your child which can help them in various avenues. As a parent, you can be judged for ‘spoiling’ your child by teaching them that it’s okay to say ‘No’ but in the long run, you will be thankful that you gave importance to a topic like consent.

We hope that this blog helped.