PDA Kids Are Not Bad

What if PDA kids are not crazy, bad, disobedient or wrong? What if they are not difficult, broken, or challenging?

What if PDAers are the canaries in the coal mine, the ones purposely planted to alert us when things are off? What if they were created to signal when power is out of balance?

By not listening to and honoring our kids’ boundaries, we are raising a generation of adults who don’t know their inner wisdom and how to honor their own or others’ boundaries. Who do not know their own "why" or "why not." What to say yes to and what to say no to.

Our PDA kids don’t struggle with that. They are messengers sent to teach a better way. How to be boldly on the side of justice, to stand up for yourself, and to use your voice powerfully. To let your yes be yes and your no be no.

They raise their voices on behalf of all the children who feel uncomfortable and don’t have the knowledge or the skills to speak up. For all the quiet wallflowers who would love to push back but can’t. For every adult whose inner child still feels scared and small.

PDAers live large in a culture that says children who break the rules are bad. Let’s teach them that they are anything but bad. Let’s teach them that they are brave. They are bold. They are courageous.

They are freedom fighters on behalf of all children. They are given to us as a culture to illuminate and resist injustice. Their voices were made to speak, loud and proud, for all whose light is dimmed, so that all children may shine on.