A Mum, who shared a thought evoking post encouraging parents to change their attitude towards teen boys, was shocked to receive an onslaught of abuse for her efforts.

Kasey Ferris is a freelance writer and mother of five. Kasey shared a blog on Huffington Post titled, “Please Don’t Threaten My Son For Dating Your Daughter”.

Kasey felt the need to speak up after seeing a picture going viral on social media with the caption “Whatever you do to my daughter, I will do to you.”

Kasey said the overprotective father is a tired concept that needs to just die.

Kasey wrote, “Aside from the assumption that my daughter (yes, I also have daughters) is incapable of good judgement and protecting herself and her standards, this ridiculous concept imagines my sons likewise incapable of the same good judgement and standards.”

“But I’ve been/known a teenage boy,” You say. “I know how they think.”

‘Boys Will Be Boys’ Needs To STOP

Kasey argues that “rationalizing that young men have overwhelming urges that cloud their judgement and force them to make poor decisions regarding young women is nothing more than excusing bad behavior. “Boys will be boys” needs to STOP.”

She shares, “My oldest son is 16 and his life does not need to be threatened when he takes his date out for dinner. My son is 16 and yet he has enough sense to be respectful to his grandmother, his mother, his sisters, and, amazingly, his girlfriend. I, as his mother, take offense to the thought that he is some hormone-drunk sloppy boner-machine (man he’s going to hate me for writing that phrase in a public forum) who is completely blinded to good sense and morality. I have raised my son to be respectful and responsible young man, and he portrays those qualities in outside situations, as well.”

“It’s not “funny” to threaten my son. It’s not “cute” to treat your daughter as if she has zero common sense.”

How To Really Protect Your Daughter

She continues, “If you’d like to protect your daughter, raise her in such a way that she can protect herself. Give her the tools to decipher a dangerous situation. Teach her the language of consent and how to exit a situation that makes her uncomfortable. Help her be confident about her decisions, and show her how to make good choices about the people she spends time with. Take the time and be involved in her life. Protect your son in the same ways. And, for goodness sake, if you have good reason to distrust their judgement, make sure their activities are safe and monitored.

Above all, realize and come to terms with the fact that teenage sexuality is not a “boy thing”. Teenage sexuality is a teenage thing. Young men and young women alike are going to be curious, interested, and looking to learn more about sex. Your daughter is just as curious as my son, I can virtually guarantee it. Yet you don’t see me polishing a shotgun when she comes over to do homework. You don’t see me posting pictures on Facebook with watered-down threats about personal harm should I find out she gets handsy with my son.

The idea of threatening young women to keep their hands off young men is ludicrous, yet when roles are reversed it’s completely accepted and even encouraged. Why? In order to raise a generation of kind and respectful men we have to stop telling our boys they’re inherently bad (but it’s not their fault because hormones.) In order to create a culture of strong and competent women who can save themselves, we must first stop teaching girls that they need to be saved.

Why don’t we, as parents, mutually do our best to raise responsible and capable children, instead? Why don’t we guide our children to better choices, and help them learn how to recover when (not if) they screw up? Why don’t we remember that this is all part of the process and focus on the examples we’re setting for them and the messages they’re receiving at home? Then maybe we could all take a collective deep breath and be more confident in the kids we’ve raised.”

Abused For Speaking Out

Kasey was very brave to share her opinion and has recently shared that she did receive a lot of abuse for having the guts to speak out.

She shared on her social media, “The blow back was swift and very real. In essence, I was told by many, many men that I should shut my fu#$ing mouth, that I should be sexually assaulted, and at least twice that he – this strange man who chose me to harass that day – couldn’t wait until his sons were old enough and big enough to *rape my daughters*. That’ll teach me to use my voice and ask that we treat women and men alike with respect. What a crazy bitch I am.

This is why I speak up. This is why I keep speaking up. It’s important.”

I am glad we have people like Kasey that are willing to offer their voice to something they feel passionate about. We need more people like her.

Do you agree with her message?

Share your comments below. 

Stock photo