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Parenting Expert Says Parents Should Never High-five Their Kids

A parenting expert has created a huge debate after saying that parents should never high-five their kids.

Read on for the full story…

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The journalist argued that the hand gesture teaches children a lack of respect for their elders.

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John Rosemond wrote the, now-viral, op-ed for the Omaha World-Herald.

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In the piece, Rosemond argues that the high-five is “a gesture of familiarity, to be exchanged between equals.”

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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.”

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“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.

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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.”

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“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.”

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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?