Today I read a review of the book, Not My Kid: What Parents Believe About the Sex Lives of Their Teenagers at Slate.com. The reviewer, Emily Yoffe, makes some great points in her article, and I encourage you to read what she wrote from the perspective of one parent to another. Click here for the link!

Of all the statements she makes, this one stood out to me: “Like many experts, Elliott often condescends to parents as if we’re nitwits.” Yes. Exactly. The book itself, I will be reading and will probably agree and disagree with multiple aspects of it. I read material like this from multiple perspectives: from my own academic training to my own experiences as a teenager growing up in the U.S. and then as a parent. It shouldn’t be shocking that a parent can wear so many hats as a reader. But as the reviewer states, parents are often spoken down to in texts like these.

I. Hate. That. Which is why my goal with this project is to respect the lived experiences of parents. Nobody likes to be preached to. Nobody wants to be disrespected while searching for knowledge. It is a very vulnerable position to occupy as a parent seeking guidance and ‘experts’ need to keep that in mind.

So please give the review a look and feel free to post your reactions here. Maybe we can get a dialogue going.

Be well!

Airial