I’m sure it will shock you, but I, the non-binary middle school librarian, am not a secret Andrew Tate fan, nor am I a trad-spouse in disguise.
But, when it comes to keeping kids from being “red pilled” or falling prey to dangerous content, the best tool is to show them the content, not shield them from it completely.
Why would we show them content we disagree with on purpose? Well, because otherwise how will they know how to recognize it?
Let me be clear- we shouldn’t be showing kids content with content they’re not ready to think critically about, or with offensive language, and we don’t even need to show them particular influencers or “big names” in the MRA/Red pill world.
But if we hear someone say something like, oh, I dunno, men are supposed to be strong and in charge and women are supposed to obey, instead of just saying “that’s wrong” take a moment to unpack it.
Why? Because one day our kids will be adults, and they will work with, hang out with, date, interact with, and/or marry someone who will express opinions that we may find problematic. And we want to be sure they have the skills to navigate those interactions.
Some of my favorite questions for this are: why would they say that? Who benefits from what they’re describing? Who is hurt? Who gets/loses power? What do you think about what they’re saying? Would it make you feel good if someone treated you that way? Why?
Sometimes the answers to the above are going to be the opposite of what we want to hear! But that’s actually really important- if our teenaged son says “yeah, it would feel good if a girl liked me and did everything I asked” then we know we have some other important things to discuss and questions to ask. These questions can help identify areas that our kids may be resolute in their opinions, and areas where they may be more susceptible to lines of thinking or questioning that prey upon our desires.
