Children used to be taught that young boys push, bother, and mistreat little girls because they like them – and that’s because many teachers and authority figures used to think that boys are simply “that way.”
But now, things are different. Margaux Dawn is one mom who decided to challenge old-fashioned and gendered behavioral expectations.
It all happened because Dawn’s daughter Luna was dealing with harassment from a little boy classmate. Dawn wrote about her response in a Facebook post that went viral.
“On the very first day of school my daughter came home and told me about a little boy in class who had followed her around constantly, making her uncomfortable, despite being asked to stop. He had tried to follow her into the bathroom as well.”
Clearly this is a situation where a teacher should be stepping in, but it wasn’t happening.
Dawn wrote:
“I advised her to firmly tell him again (without saying ‘please’ — because this was a command, not a request) and to ask her teacher for help in getting him to stop.
We practiced loudly saying ‘DO NOT TOUCH ME.’ and ‘STOP FOLLOWING ME’ in the bathroom mirror together.”
Unfortunately, the school called after the little boy did something even worse before the week was over.
“That day, the same little boy had cornered Luna, pinned her to the ground with his knees planted on her chest, and forced her mouth open so he could lick inside her mouth while she screamed and cried for him to stop. A school employee eventually pulled him off of her. She was terrified. I was livid.”
This prompted Dawn to enroll her little girl in Jiu-Jitsu classes, which not only helped Luna regain her confidence, but also taught her practical self-defense skills that, unfortunately, she was required to put to use:
“Yesterday at recess, an older and larger student didn’t want to wait his turn to climb a play structure. So he yanked Luna down off of it and started to throw her around by the collar. Luna used his own weight to put him on his rear-end in the barkdust but he still did not let go of her. So she put a knee into his chest until he was flat on his back, and then pressed her shin against his neck until he began sputtering and released her. At that point she backed quickly away.”
Some commenters were displeased with the way Dawn and Luna handled the situation, but they were clearly in the right – assault is not a joke, and clearly Luna needed to be able to handle her own self. And, frankly, teachers and authority figures need to change their expectations of “everyday” behavior from little boys.
The important thing is that all children remain safe, Luna included.
What do you think of Dawn’s choice? Share your thoughts below!
