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A mom is grateful and unapologetic about her and her husband’s traditional approach to their teenage daughter’s dating life — regardless of what “new age” parents on Twitter say about it.
On June 11, conservative family advocate Christy Kelly took to the Bluebird app and opened up about her family meeting their daughter’s boyfriend and his mother for the first time. Kelly expressed extreme gratitude for her husband’s firm approach to the male teen. She said that the man of her household set solid boundaries for the male teen regarding his daughter’s “chastity.”
The husband also told their daughter’s new boyfriend that he has “four guns” and required the utmost respect from the male teen. “Thank God I married an old soul,” Kelly tweeted. “We may look like fun, ‘cool’ parents, but we are pretty traditional.”
“The new-age parenting is strange and frankly needs to stop,” the protective mother added.
The tweet has been seen by over 13.1 million people and spawned thousands of strongly opinionated replies about the couple’s approach to their daughter’s new boyfriend.
Those that disagreed with the heads of the Kelly household argued that the husband’s gun intimidation toward their daughter’s new boyfriend was completely inappropriate — especially as a Black man toward a male Black youth. Others emphasized that the hyper fixation with their daughter’s chastity was an outdated pillar of patriarchy that robbed their daughter of the autonomy to her own body and sexual decisions.
Some expressed that the Kelly couple seemingly lacked trust in their daughter’s practice of the values they’ve instilled. Several also said that the parents’ fear tactics might deter their children from being honest with them.
Those who agreed with Kelly’s traditional parenting style emphasized that the goal was to do everything possible to keep the daughter protected emotionally, mentally, physically and sexually in the long term.
Twitter users gave the mama bear and gun-toting father props for their protectiveness toward their child. Others highlighted how the more hands-on approach toward teenagers who date had been successful in their own personal experiences.
According to Do.Something.org, 1 in 3 young people will be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship. More disturbingly, 50% of those youths who experience rape or physical or sexual abuse will attempt to commit suicide.
In response to the backlash, Kelly emphasized why she and her husband so passionately want to ensure their daughter’s well-being while they allow the child to date. The conservative advocate revealed that the male teen’s mother responded well to her husband’s firmness with the male child.
“This is what a strong black man looks like,” said Kelly. “My daughter likely won’t be with this kid forever. But my husband will leave the imprint of male leadership on his life because this is what we do. His mother thanked us for the strong reception. She’s raised a respectful son. But there are some things only a man can teach a young male.”
In an article published in 2022 titled How Black Communities Are Addressing Teen Dating Violence, licensed psychologist Erlanger Turner, Ph.D., shed light on the importance of boundary conversations with teens as they date.
“It’s important for parents to recognize that children learn messages from their environment about expectations—especially when it comes to relationships,” the founder of Therapy for Black Kids told Parents.com.
He continued: “The earlier you can begin these conversations with youth helps remove the taboo around things like verbal and physical abuse that they may have witnessed or that they may encounter in their own relationships as teens or adults.”
Listen to more of Kelly’s opinion on the matter below.
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