Categories: uncategorized
Date: 02 April 2007 07:20:56
As my students are frequently reminded I am the teacher who is easily shocked. As such when I am listening to certain music or watching soaps with Third Party and particularly when I pick up the teenage magazines she reads my eyebrows frequently rise upwards. At those points I find counting to ten particularly useful. The reason I find this method of counting generally stops me from saying what I am thinking, (i.e. "this is utter crap and I'm not having it in my house), and instead gives me time to get ready to discuss the content and the issues contained within with Third Party.
Now between these three mediums most topics are touched and so they give me the opportunity to discuss issues that quite frankly I don't feel comfortable discussing but I feel need covering with Third Party. They give us the opportunity to discuss our points of view on subjects without getting personal because we can concentrate on the lyric, character or story, this is something I find particularly useful. In my experience it is after we have had this general discussion that questions might be raised that lead on to us sharing on a more personal level with each other, when we feel more comfortable talking about the subject (& this is not exclusively about sex).
It also gives me an opportunity to explain my boundaries and what I do and don't find acceptable in some cases. Also taking this approach means I know what my daughter is listening to, watching and reading. Whilst she knows I won't exercise censorship with her, (in terms of telling her she is not allowed to watch, read or listen to something - because I know that she would just consume this type of thing somewhere), she also knows that if I believe something is totally inappropriate I will make that view clear and explain why I don't want it / won't have it in my house in the future. For example recently I had to tell her that I regarded the lyrics of something she was listening to as musical porn and as such she was not to listen to it / repeat the lyrics to it near me.