TV host Piers Morgan, known for his unvarnished comments, called it “creepy” that David Beckham kissed Harper, his 7-year-old daughter, on the lips. Morgan acknowledged it to be “sweet,” but he also described it as “weird.”
This display of devotion between a father and kid has sparked discussions all across the world. To some, it may appear strange, but to others, it comes naturally.
Dr. Charlotte Reznick, a child psychologist, issues a strong caution against this form of kiss, claiming it confuses children and could be detrimental to their development.
TV host Piers Morgan, known for his unvarnished comments, called it “creepy” that David Beckham kissed Harper, his 7-year-old daughter, on the lips. Morgan acknowledged it to be “sweet,” but he also described it as “weird.”
This display of devotion between a father and kid has sparked discussions all across the world. To some, it may appear strange, but to others, it comes naturally.
Dr. Charlotte Reznick, a child psychologist, issues a strong caution against this form of kiss, claiming it confuses children and could be detrimental to their development.
The controversy was sparked more than ten years ago when Henry Connick Jr. was seen kissing Charlotte, who was eight years old at the time.
When Reznick, a former UCLA Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology and child and educational psychologist, posed the question, “If you start kissing your kids on the lips, when do you stop? ” in reference to the legendary kiss between the crooner and his daughter. It becomes really perplexing.
Reznick used the example of a 6-year-old girl who received a kiss on the lips from her father, saying the girl might go to school and express herself by kissing peers, which is just as innocent as kissing her father, putting her at risk of being a “sexual harasser.”
Children might link kissing with sexual or romantic interaction between parents, according to best-selling author Reznick. When mommy kisses dad on the mouth and vice versa, she said, a youngster might wonder, “What does that mean when I, a little girl or boy, kiss my parents on the mouth?”
Aside from kissing a child on the lips, Reznick reminds parents to be conscious of practices like tight swaddling, force-feeding, or aggressive tickling, that can cross the lines of personal boundaries and allow intrusion from others.
