I am raising a Son and I know what it means.
By: Gunjan Sharma Arora
Tags: Life Lessons, Social Change, Feminism, Nonfiction, Motherhood

So it happens that I am a mother of a son, which makes me realize that I have the ownership of a very important responsibility! Yes, I as a mother and my husband as a father, we, together carry the onus to bring up a male child who respects women, treats them as equal and doesn’t hold any prejudice or bias towards them, no matter going ahead he gets a female sibling or not!

Raising good men is a social challenge, a social change that starts with the people, people who are parents, people who have niece or nephews, people who have grandkids or people who are just neighbors! Change starts at home, no leader can bring about social change unless people agree to partake and make it a daily habit in their home.

It takes two to make a baby and it takes two to raise a baby! We as parents will have to take it on ourselves to bring this social change, to raise good responsible men, to provide safety to our daughters and to treat them as equal.

I am writing this because i feel strongly about this issue, every crime against women disturbs me to the core, hence, my movement starts with my own home, i pledge to make my contribution by teaching my son that being a male doesn’t make him superior and all humans, irrespective of gender and age, should be treated well and respected.

It’s my request to all the parents, especially of boys, to consider this movement as their own, and do their best in bringing about the change. Our kids deserve a better environment, where neither liberation is sexist nor restrictions!

I would also request the parents of girls, to not only give them independence of body and mind, but of self defence as well. While carrying knives and chillies in handbag is ok, but the need of the hour is more autonomy in defending the self. Parents should actively enroll their girls in a self defence art form.

Kids should be made aware about good touch and bad touch at an early age. Often 5–6 year olds are curious and want to explore their bodies, but a knowledge of good touch and bad touch will guide them to not behave inappropriately with others as well to not let anybody else misbehave with them. Honest communication should be emphasized and they should be assured of no harm if they come forward and report a known person misbehaving with them. Research indicates most often a family member or someone closely known is involved in such heinous acts rather than strangers.

A child irrespective of gender should be raised to live with dignity and self respect and that physical misconduct should neither be done nor accepted. If unfortunately a child becomes a victim of physical abuse, they should be taught to raise their voice and run for safety. It is also important to make them understand and assured that a physical abuse does not result in a lesser you and that it was not their fault. In a grander scheme of things, it is not about one gender fighting and protecting against another, it is about dignity, respect, self control and moral values that make all of us human and equal.

But before all this, the current generation of parents need to be sensitized about the essence of this change we seek to bring. We as parents should realize that we are involved in the upbringing of next set of civilization and civilizations are built on civil virtues. We cannot afford to ignore this aspect of parenting and cannot sit back thinking that kids will eventually learn on their own, which they might, but then we would have lost the battle and our kids.