Education

"I know no better weapon to fight injustice in life than education." ~ Terani Trenton
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I'm so glad our provinicial government is introducing education about boundaries into the curriculum throughout Alberta from kindergarten to grade twelve. I recently read, though I can't remember which province, schools are also getting the police involved in educating students about the fact that taking and sharing inappropriate photos online or via text is actually illegal as it is deemed child pornography.
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I feel like there's a huge gap between feeling empowered and owning our bodies as women and overtly sexualizing ourselves for the desire of others. Nowhere have I seen this more than with females particularly under the age of 18 and that may be due to the fact that my youngest daughter graduated high school last year.
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The problem seems to be not only the desire for girls to feel valued by getting more followers and likes but also for boys to feel accepted...and vice versa. Normalizing this type of inappropriate behaviour feels like it has been the beginning of so much of the awfulness I see in our world today.
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I do believe the solution is education. Our children need to learn to understand and set boundaries. They won't stop taking and sharing these photos if other girls and boys don't stop liking them. I also believe we will continue to have difficulty shutting down online creeps that harm children until this happens.
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I would love to see our education system teaching body positivity, stress relief / meditation, first aid, basic car maintenance, healthy sexuality and proper online use among other basic life skills by people who have a passion for sharing it. Basically teach kids to love learning, to be kind and considerate, and to be themselves.