How to Talk to Your Child about Pride Month
June is Pride Month! We’re so excited for the chance to celebrate love in all its forms.
At Little Otter, we support children’s active exploration of gender identity and expression as foundational to the development of a healthy sense of self. Parents have a central role in shaping children’s sense of safety surrounding gender-related experience, so it’s extremely important to discuss this with the entire family early on.
Today, we’re really excited to share thoughts about how to talk to your child about Pride Month!
If you’re wondering about how to have that conversation with your little ones, this post is for you. Let’s jump right in.
Should I be talking to my child about Pride Month?
Absolutely! Pride Month offers a unique chance to celebrate love and experience diverse representations of sexuality and gender identity.
Parents have a big impact on a child’s own sense of self. When kids feel loved, valued, and like they belong, they’re more likely to be successful and resilient.
Is my child too young to learn about Pride Month and/or LGBTQ+ topics?
Children are able to understand and express gender quite early.
Children begin learning about gender norms from caregivers and surrounding culture beginning in infancy. By 3 or 4 years old, children are associating traits with specific genders.
Research has shown that by 5, they have internalized gender roles and formed strong ideas regarding which behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable based on one’s gender.
When children’s interests and abilities are counter to the gender rules they’ve learned, self-esteem may suffer and developmental exploration can become constricted.
How should I talk about Pride Month and/or LGBTQ+ topics with my child?
It’s completely expected to feel awkward, uncertain, and even a little nervous when talking to your children about topics like these.
The most important thing you can do in these conversations is to be honest.
This helps create a foundation of trust; as your child grows and matures, they’ll know that you’re someone they can turn to for help and clarity.
Little Otter is here to support your family. We have a gender-diverse group of child mental health professionals with experience in helping families navigate gender identity and exploration.
If you’d like additional support for talking with your kid about Pride, we offer parent coaching sessions. And if your little ones could use some extra support in navigating their own gender identity, we’re here to provide guidance during that important time, too.
