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Expert Q&A
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| By Chris Crutcher Author, Licensed Child and Family Therapist | ||
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I overheard my son (15) and his friends while they were in the family room talking about girls in their school. They were using very derogatory terms to describe various body parts, and one boy insinuated that my son had first had knowledge of the way a certain girl's body looked and felt like. My son just laughed in response. I haven't said anything to him. I talked to my husband, and my husband says it's just boys talking "locker room talk." I still think maybe I need to have a talk with him about the language and respecting girls. Should I?
I would. It may be locker room talk, but it's still disrespectful and it will come back to bite him in the butt, as it were, if he says it in the wrong place. I'd simply tell him how it makes YOU feel when you hear it and how you would have responded when you were younger; and how you feel girls would respond today. More than likely he'll tell you they wouldn't, or that he didn't mean it, or whatever, but don't worry about that. You got it said, and he'll think about it at least. Don't expect him to stop talking locker room talk with the guys, but you may very well get him thinking about how to treat the opposite sex. There's never anything wrong with saying how you feel and what your worries are. A lot of times kids will "poo-poo" you, but you got it said.
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