Heros, punches, freedom

Relationships. Every person is involved or has been in a relationship. My daughter has been "going out" with her boyfriend for 9 months now. "Going out" means they talk on the phone and give each other presents on their birthday. My son loves to tease her about her boyfriend going to high school and dropping her for another girl. This sounds so trivial and harmless; however there are life lessons in these middle school relationships. My daughter tells me of how some of the boys in her class cuss the girls and call them names. How disrespectful they treat their girlfriend and her friends. Red flags. These young men have not been taught how to respect a girl, so watch out for other areas to be affected. First of all, why do these young girls think it is okay for someone to cuss them and shove them around? Why don't these girls realize their worth and value and right to treated with respect and courtesy? Why have these young men learned to bully and be verbally abusive? Maybe these young men have a father who speaks roughly to their mother. In their home there is no teaching of respecting one's freedom and rights as an human being. Young girls are taught from the movies that real men are rough, difficult to understand, non communicative, too tough to be kind. Heros. We saw the movie The Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe. The central truth of this movie, was a father's deep desire to provide love, stability, and protection for his family. He was loyal, kind to his wife and children, he was affectionate and real. His children knew he would never hurt them or embarrass them, yet in the ring of a fight, he became driven with such a passion to win. He fought each fight with the desire to provide a better life for his family. A real man. Tough to the core of taking punches until knocked-out, but gentle enough to bring home turtles to three sweet children. I want my son to know how to treat young women with dignity and respect. I want my daughter to know her rights and freedom in relationships.