A parenting expert has created a huge debate after saying that parents should never high-five their kids.
Read on for the full story…
The journalist argued that the hand gesture teaches children a lack of respect for their elders.
John Rosemond wrote the, now-viral, op-ed for the Omaha World-Herald.
In the piece, Rosemond argues that the high-five is “a gesture of familiarity, to be exchanged between equals.”
He said: “I will not slap the upraised palm of a person who is not my peer, and a peer is someone over age twenty-one, emancipated, employed and paying their own way.”
“The high-five is NOT appropriate between doctor and patient, judge and defendant,” he said, before listing yet more interactions where he believes the gesture to be improper.
Rosemond even described an interaction with his own son, who confronted him after the writer refused to high-five his grandson. He said: “I don’t expect him to understand, and I’m not going to explain myself to him.”
Further on in the article, Rosemond explained his reasoning: “Respect for adults is important to a child’s character development, and the high-five is not compatible with respect.”
“It is to be reserved for individuals of equal, or fairly equal, status,” he continued.
Refusing to high-five your child makes them “aspire to become adults,” he argued. He also said: “Boundaries in relationships are essential to their proper functioning.”
He finished the piece by saying: “Children should know their place… The more adults and children commingle as if they are equals, the more problematic become their relationships.”
What do you think?