Journalist sparks massive Twitter debate after he claimed that adults should not high-five children because it teaches them a lack of respect for their elders.
John Rosemond, a weekly columnist who has a masters in psychology, often writes pieces on parenting, claimed in the Omaha World-Herald that a high-five is a ‘gesture of familiarity, to be exchanged between equals’.
He explained that ‘respect for adults’ is ‘important to a child’s character development,’ and that the ‘high-five is not compatible with respect.’
‘I will not slap the upraised palm of a person who is not my peer, and a peer is someone over age 21, emancipated, employed, and paying their own way,’ John wrote.
‘It is to be reserved for individuals of equal, or fairly equal, status. It is good for children to view responsible adults as people who exist in a higher plane.
‘That “looking up” causes children to aspire to become adults, which seems to be in short supply these days.
‘The child who is allowed to high-five an adult has tacit permission to talk to said adult as if they are peers.
‘Do not wonder why, if you high-five your child, he often talks to you as if you are his equal.’
Not everyone agrees
However Dr. Lisa Lindquist, 35, a psychiatrist from Alaska disagress, she told Today that high-fiving a child is a good way to encourage their effort.
‘This provides a child with a sense of competent achievement and allows them to understand where to direct their efforts during future tasks,’ she explained.
‘So please, utilize the occasional congratulatory high-five as you tell your first grader they worked hard to solve the math problems in their workbook this evening.”
A school psychologist from Washington, Nicole Kern, 41, also warned against ‘denying kids access to contact with adults.’
‘One thing that helps is not denying them access to contact with adults, be that physical or emotional, when the child seeks such a connection,’ she said. ‘I would never deny a child something as basic as a high-five.’