I Don’t Know!

In their 2014 book, Think Like a Freak, Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner claimed that the three hardest words in the English Language to say are “I don’t know.” This isn’t the wildest claim to make. If knowledge is power, then admitting you don’t know something can seem akin to…
Children Communication Parenting

The dreaded sleepover question

In a world with flexible gender and sexual identities, what’s a parent to do? I’ve been asked about sleepovers through two channels in the last few days, so it seemed the right time to finally write a post about it. This question comes up all the time – first in…
Adolescent Development Adolescent Sexuality Communication Family Conversations Gay Teens Gender Parenting Sex Education

Sexual harassment, consent, and hugging grandma

Yesterday in my middle school class we talked about sexual harassment. The students had a general notion of these as bad things, but little in the way of details. The problem is generally that people misconstrue sexual harassment with sexual assault. They don’t realize that harassment can be verbal, can…
Adolescent Development Consent Family Parenting Sex Education Sexual Harassment