Someone commented this on one of my posts last week, out of nowhere, then promptly disappeared. Ha!
But it did get me thinking about how pervasive this idea is: children can’t consent. Not really. They don’t have the ability, they’re not developmentally read to, their brains are still developing (this is a favorite, I’ve responded to this one here), they don’t have all the information, they don’t know what they don’t know, they just don’t fully understand the long-term repercussions, they have no impulse control. And on and on.
I’ll be honest - some of these thoughts cross my mind sometimes. In the same way that I don’t agree with the idea children can’t consent, I also don’t necessarily want to assume that all children can and must always consent to all things. Must always make autonomous decisions.