Our good friend Lawdog posted this warning on MeWe a couple of days ago. I re-post it here, with his permission.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but:
Anytime someone who is not a blood relative tells your child, "You can't tell your parents about this" that should be an immediate red flag.
Your child should immediately be removed from that person's influence, and that person should be driven from their position of power.
Yes, I am talking about teachers. And doctors. And priests. And nurses. And politicians. And police.
There can be an innocent reason for a blood relative to want parents not to know about a forbidden movie, or a dessert, or a range trip, or a thrill ride, or any number of other things.
There can also be terrible reasons for blood relatives to want parents not to know, but those aren't the point of this post.
THERE IS NEVER A GOOD, VALID REASON FOR A CONTRACTED EMPLOYEE OR PUBLIC SERVANT TO WANT YOUR CHILDREN NOT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING.
NEVER.
People who request that of your children are a threat, and your children are not safe in their presence.
Period. Full stop. End of story.
I couldn't agree more. Thanks, Lawdog, for a timely reminder.
Peter
EXACTLY!! THANKS. I tell my grandchildren that all the time, for the expressed purpose of, 1. I know they will tell their parents & 2. It's exciting to them.-- everyone laughs and the little ones love it. Anything else is not good
ReplyDeleteMy mom used to say something similar.
ReplyDelete"An adult never needs a child's help for anything. If an adult asks for your help, run away.".
It's called grooming... sigh
ReplyDeleteGood advice.
ReplyDeleteI always took the approach with the kids: with the exception of fun surprises (we didn't do many of those, but everyone knew what we meant), there is nothing that Mom or Dad says that the other can't know about. There were things that we said that weren't to be repeated outside of the house, but that was always about not embarrassing someone or hurting feelings, not bad secrets.
ReplyDeleteThey were told that all other "secrets" did not apply to the two of us, and that they were generally to be shared as quickly as possible. Even now, with Milady gone, I know more about the kids' and godkids' lives than I really feel comfortable knowing, but I'm glad I'm not locked out.
Excellent and timely warning!
ReplyDeleteYes! I read an article today claiming that the push for parental rights was damaging to children and effectively slavery... I eventually figured out that their real concern was that parents would fight educators attempts to make their kids transgender.
ReplyDeleteThere are many reasons to be concerned about secret influencing of kids, not all of them are sexual - but ALL of them are reasons for parental concern!
Peter, how IS Mr.Dog doing, is he doing any writing? I mosey by his blog hoping to see a new blurb. Some wierd strangers, in comments....wishing him well.
ReplyDeleteLarry Correia posted his letter to his local high school community council, which included this:
ReplyDelete"Both meetings consisted of parents rattling off story after story about this one particular teacher, most of which hit the same consistent themes, and some fun new ones, like how she told the kids not to talk about her lessons with their parents. Gee whiz. I wonder why?"
As one commenter there pointed out, shouldn't this be grounds for instant dismissal? In all the creepy dramas about creeps I've ever seen, this line pops up regularly.
(original post here