A journalist has sparked a debate after claiming adults should never give their kids a high-five.
While the gesture may seem like harmless fun, John Rosemond - a weekly parenting columnist at the Omaha World-Herald - issued a clear warning against high-fives in his latest op-ed.
According to Rosemond, children who high-five their parents are less likely to respect them as they grow up.
Why? The columnist claimed that clapping hands with another person is a "gesture of familiarity, to be exchanged between equals" - and that by exchanging high-fives with children, you invite them to see you as "peers".
"I will not slap the upraised palm of a person who is not my peer, and a peer is someone over age 21, emancipated, employed, and paying their own way," Rosemond wrote, adding: "The child who is allowed to high-five an adult has tacit permission to talk to said adult as if they are peers."
"The high-five is not compatible with respect," he argued.
The journalist - who has a master's in psychology - went on to extol on the virtues of kids seeing adults as existing on a "higher plane."
He explained that - for the same reason they shouldn't high-five their parents - kids should also never be allowed to call their parents by their first names, sleep in the same bed as them, or have free access to money.
"The more adults and children commingle as if they are equals, the more problematic become their relationships," he said, adding: "The happiest kids are also the most obedient."
After Rosemund's piece was published on Monday (October 3), a Twitter user who goes by the name 'Erin' shared a snap of the article and branded it: "One of the weirdest things I have ever read in the OWH."
"It is also hilarious. And very depressing," Erin added.
In a follow-up Tweet, they made it clear that Rosemund's advice had in fact prompted them to do the very opposite. "My personal goal today was to respond to emails but now it's high-fiving every kid I see," they joked.
Erin wasn't the only person who seemed to think Rosemund's advice was ridiculous. Many more took to the comments section to offer their view on high-fiving kids.
"30 years in public education as a teacher and administrator. I have easily high-fived more than a thousand children over the years, encouraging them with affirmations of 'good morning,' 'have a great day,' 'well done,' and 'that's awesome,' in the process. What a fool I've been," one wrote sarcastically.
"He has made the point that parents are not 'friends' to their kids. Mostly I agree. But when parents are bonding with their children on something - fishing, sports, etc. [....] you can be authoritative AND fun," another argued.
One person didn't understand what all the fuss was about. "It’s just a fun, non-verbal way that they can acknowledge a compliment, show agreement with something," they tweeted, adding: "I’m not getting how this is disrespectful or demeaning to an adult."
Meanwhile, a fourth took a more humorous approach to the advice, joking: "Hi-fives for children are inappropriate, they're too short generally, so lo-five is better. But the real deal is the 'too slow' switcharoo, teaching them a valuable lesson in not only trust but situational awareness."
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