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Speaking of Teens

Episode #38: Teaching Teens To Respect Authority Is Dangerous

Coach

There’s never a shortage of news stories about someone in a position of power or authority who has physically, emotionally, or sexually abused a child or an adolescent in their care. We’ve seen it in schools, churches, sports organizations - anywhere adults are in charge of young people.

And for all the high-profile cases, there are thousands more that perhaps involve fewer kids or a not-so-famous organization and still more than go unreported.

When one of these stories come to light, our questions are always the same. How did this happen? Why did these kids not say something? Why didn’t they tell someone? Why didn’t they ask their parents for help?

I believe the answer’s pretty simple: it’s because we’ve taught our kids to keep their mouths shut. We’ve taught them to “respect authority”, to “obey their elders”, to “not talk back”, to “do what they’re told”...and by doing so, we’ve put them at great risk for harm.

Join me this week as I examine how we can change the narrative with our kids about “respecting authority” to do a better job of keeping them safe from predatory and abusive adults in positions of power or trust.

Please share this episode with another mom you think it may benefit and follow the show on your favorite podcast player.

I make this show just for you so if you have any feedback regarding this episode or any others or would like to suggest a future show, I’d love to hear from you!  You can reach me anytime at 864-313-7277 or acoleman@neurogility.com.

Access transcript here.

Additional Resources:

Netflix Documentary, Don't Pick Up The Phone

About Stanley Milgram's experiments:

Simplypsychology.org

Behavioralscientist.org

TheConversation.com (discussion of the additional experiments and new findings)

Effectiviology.com

Stanley Milgram's documentary (1962)

The Experimenter (2016 movie starring Peter Sarsgaard) about the Milgram experiments

The video by teacher/principal(?) of an elementary school

A sampling of the cases of abuse of authority in religious institutions:

Christian Schools

Florida

Tennessee

Arizona

Canada

Australia

UK

Church Camp

Megachurch (Canada)

Catholic Church

Southern Baptists

Other Cases Across Organizations:

Scott Shaw - San Jose State

Larry Nassar - US Gymnastics

Coaches/Owners NWSL

Junior ROTC

Boy Scouts

Rosalind Wiseman on Good Life Project Podcast

Essay by Amy Sterling Casil (Grandfather was a Sheriff)

Essay By "Teacher Tom" (teaching young kids to question authority)

Ira Chaleff (Intelligent Disobedience)

Parents not believing girls about Larry Nassar:

Vox article

NPR

People Magazine

Abusers working in "positions of trust":

Daily Mail - UK

Public School Review - US

Child Rescue Coalition on Grooming

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