To keep their kids safe, parents have to be cautious and maintain a healthy level of skepticism about the world around them. Of course, some parents end up with a bigger dose of this carefulness than others.
Content creator and attorney Lex Ginger shared that her father, George, was in the latter group of parents. “He was an SVU prosecutor in the ‘90s, and he saw things,” she said.
According to Ginger, there were some fairly common things that her father would not let her do as a result.
It may not seem like a big deal to let your child use a restroom when you’re out and about. But, to Ginger’s father, it was.
“There would even be times that if I was (on a) daddy-daughter day, he would walk me into the men’s room with my eyes closed and then he would put me in a stall, stand in front of the stall, wait until I was done, take me out,” Ginger recalled.
“But I was not allowed to just go into a public restroom by myself probably up until I was, like, in middle school,” she added.
Dr. Paul Horowitz, a pediatrician, told HuffPost that the decision to allow your child to use a public restroom is dependent on a lot of different factors.
“That’s a safety/comfort call,” he said. “Sending your child into a single-stall restroom when you’re just outside is different from letting him go into the restroom at the high-traffic movie theater.”
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Whether or not children should be allowed to have sleepovers has long been debated. However, for George, the decision was easy.
“I could go to sleepovers but I couldn’t sleep over, if that makes sense,” Ginger said. “This lasted until I was in high school. And then, in high school, I was allowed to go to sleepovers, but they had to be not co-ed and my parents had to know the parents.”
Sexual assault is, unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence at sleepovers. According to RAINN“One in 9 girls and one in 20 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault.”
With statistics like these, it can be incredibly difficult to trust anyone enough to make sure your child is taken care of overnight. And even if you do trust the parents hosting the sleepover, you never know who else will be in their home or what weapons and substances they have under their roof.
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“This is gonna offend so many people,” Ginger said. “‘Cause … I feel like this is a great American right for a lot of people, but no sleepaway summer camps until I was in high school.”
Sleepaway camps are much like sleepovers. There is minimal adult supervision and you don’t always know the adults who are there.
The American Camp Association said“Managing the risk of sexual abuse is paramount to protect campers from harm and create a safe environment for their personal growth and enjoyment.”
“By implementing comprehensive risk-management protocols, summer camps can identify potential vulnerabilities, assess risks, and develop strategies to prevent and respond to sexual abuse,” they continued.
While it’s good that summer camps are taking these steps, it’s understandable if parents feel that the risk is still too great.
While Ginger stated that she could “feel the comments coming” regarding negativity about her father’s choices, nearly every commenter agreed that he was on the right track.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, harassment or violence, you are not alone. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline 24/7 at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at RAINN.
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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
