via Google

Since when does an innocent, loving peck between parent and child cause issues? Well, according to doctors and psychologists like Charlotte Reznick... the answer is “since always.”

 Via RebelCircus

Reznick explains that the mouth and lips are considered erogenous zones and kissing a child there can stimulate confusion in desire and their understanding of their relationship with the parent.

In other words, it’s just way too sexual.

The whole debate over whether a parent can peck their child on the lips stemmed from Hollywood, when Victoria Beckham posted a picture of her kissing her daughter Brooklyn on the mouth back in 2017. 

Via CNN

Since then, the debate has found research on the doctors’ and psychologists’ side that explains the different ways in which the peck can negatively influence the child.

Besides it being too sexual, Reznick explains that children are not old enough to provide consent to this zone of their body and are too young to understand how someone kissing them there without asking is actually not OK when they get older.

Kissing them there now confuses this logic, just like forced tickling or hugging or force-feeding.

In some cases, children with parents who overbear their affection when it is not wanted create “victim syndrome” among their children.

Victim syndrome is when someone cannot find it in himself or herself to say “no” when they do not want something— to not be able to stand up for himself or herself.

Another issue is when the effect is the opposite, and the child starts kissing others on the lips, without their consent.

Children often mimic what they learn and if they see that kissing is a sign of affection, they can start doing it to other kids who are not comfortable with such a display.

The implications of this gesture therefore create a cycle of non-consent, the last thing we want kids to learn— especially given today’s culture and climate revolving the subject.

Via Stay at Home Mum

Sexuality is not even the only concern; sanitation, too, is at risk.

Dentists and doctors alike have taken to the internet to explain that myriads of microbes travel from kissing and a child’s immune system cannot handle an adult’s microbes.

Reznick agrees with these doctors, explaining that this saliva transfer can be very damaging to a child’s health.

Studies from the University of Oulo in Great Britain have found that kissing children on the lips could lead to tooth decay later in their lives, all because of the germs that adults can handle, but babies yet cannot.

Best thing you can do?

Hug your child and kiss them on the forehead or cheek— it’s the safest bet!