idk where it was but i remember reading an excerpt of something about how child victims of sexual assault often come up with strategies to protect themselves (mentally or physically) as well as protect one another, despite often being depicted as helpless objects that have things done to them with no reaction. & then i think about how widely accepted it was in my middle + high schools that you could not depend on the counselors for jack shit, especially if you were a mentally ill kid. its just aggravating how children are never seen as active subjects. children are seen as deserving of protection, but you are never allowed to help yourself. you must wait for an adult to decide you are worthy of help, and you only get what help they decide you need. in middle school i got in trouble for skipping math class to have panic attacks in the bathroom. no one asked why i had panic attacks, they just reprimanded me for not going to the counselor (they also did not ask why i, a child with social anxiety, felt safer alone than with an adult i did not know or trust). so often i see kids who are struggling with bullying get told "tell an adult!" with 0 acknowledgement of how the adults in their life may be completely unhelpful or actively dangerous, and how kids are often extremely aware of this dynamic. me and my friends were a mentally ill children who were abused but not in the exact ways which are acknowledged as dangerous abuse (and even if they were, many children do not want to risk being put in the system for various reasons) and we had to share knowledge of the adults in our lives to protect ourselves and each other. this is all very rambly but i just hate how children's knowledge and strategies for survival are not recognized. i hate how children have a right to safety but only if its an adult doing the saving- because if they take matters into their own hands they are punished for it. safety, whether intentionally or not, can end up being another way for adults to exert control over children's actions & deny their autonomy because children are still seen as objects to be managed by adults instead of people in their own right
I wish kinky sex ed wasn't so stigmatized even among left-leaning "sex positive" circles. Everyone's all "uwu I'm a sub I'll do anything you ask" okay mommy wants you to read The New Bottoming Book so you learn how to sub without hurting yourself since your sex ed up to this point is porn and your ex boyfriend Jared who liked to choke you incorrectly
The Feelings Of The Average Israeli Occupational Soldier: A Quick Analysis By James Ray
If you haven't already, follow him on tiktok. (@jamesgetspolitical) He gives constant updates on the genocide in Palestine but also offers food for thought in his content.
It is no secret that Israel attacks the most vulnerable and will do so by any means. The truth is in everyone's face yet so many people refuse to see this as a genocide.