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It came in a blog post from the Girl Scouts of America website entitled, “Reminder: She Doesn’t Owe Anyone a Hug. Not Even at the Holidays”.
The message is that children, in this case girls, shouldn’t be forced to give a relative a hug in return for a gift for example.
Nadiene Thornhill is a sexuality educator, parenting coach, and columnist.
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The message came just before the American thanksgiving weekend, and at the approach the Christmas holiday season when extended families often gather.
What the concern expressed is that by forcing children (girls) to give hugs this can give them the wrong idea about “consent”.
The Girl Scouts of America website says, “Think of it this way, telling your child that she owes someone a hug either just because she hasn’t seen this person in a while or because they gave her a gift can set the stage for her questioning whether she “owes” another person any type of physical affection when they’ve bought her dinner or done something else seemingly nice for her later in life”.
The posting has elicited some negative reaction however, with comments on such media as Facebook and twitter ranging from, “no more Girl Guide cookies in my house” to having been taught as a child not to hug relatives, and now having regrets as those relatives have died, and not having had a closer relationship.
Girl Guides of America say the post was partly in reaction to the recent spate of news stories of sexual harassment including the film and TV entertainment industry, politics, and media.
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