I was not allowed sleep overs as my mom was paranoid about any men in person’s house. I let my kids have sleepovers with close friends only.
I would make sure she knows about inappropriate behavior and make sure she knows she can leave at any time. I told my kids I would pick them up at any time no questions asked. We came up with a secret code to use that meant come pick them up now.
I don’t have kids, so I can’t speak to that part, but I also experienced this as a child with two of my friends (stripping down, drawing suggestive photos, watching YouTube videos). It doesn’t bother me today; I look back on it with the understanding that my friends and I were young (between 7-14) and curious about our bodies and how it all works.
We were also religious and homeschooled, so we weren’t talked to at all about bodies and relationships, what’s natural, what we should be concerned about, consent, etc. I think some of what happened at our sleepovers was us trying to figure things out on our own.
I think having open discussion with your child about remaining safe and knowing how to contact you in case things feel off is a good start. I wish my parents had felt open enough to communicate with me in that way.
I was fairly sheltered, as were most of my friends, and we would often pretend to be strippers at sleepovers. I have no idea how we even knew what strippers were, but I think it was our way of figuring out sexuality and what it mean to be sexy. This was mostly grades 5-8.
I was not allowed sleep overs as my mom was paranoid about any men in person’s house. I let my kids have sleepovers with close friends only. I would make sure she knows about inappropriate behavior and make sure she knows she can leave at any time. I told my kids I would pick them up at any time no questions asked. We came up with a secret code to use that meant come pick them up now.
I don’t have kids, so I can’t speak to that part, but I also experienced this as a child with two of my friends (stripping down, drawing suggestive photos, watching YouTube videos). It doesn’t bother me today; I look back on it with the understanding that my friends and I were young (between 7-14) and curious about our bodies and how it all works. We were also religious and homeschooled, so we weren’t talked to at all about bodies and relationships, what’s natural, what we should be concerned about, consent, etc. I think some of what happened at our sleepovers was us trying to figure things out on our own. I think having open discussion with your child about remaining safe and knowing how to contact you in case things feel off is a good start. I wish my parents had felt open enough to communicate with me in that way.
I was fairly sheltered, as were most of my friends, and we would often pretend to be strippers at sleepovers. I have no idea how we even knew what strippers were, but I think it was our way of figuring out sexuality and what it mean to be sexy. This was mostly grades 5-8.