British comedian and actor Russell Brand has announced that he thinks tickling of children should be made illegal until kids are able to consent to their bodies being touched.
Brand is dad to Mabel, two, and Peggy, six months, with wife Laura Gallacher. Speaking to the Daily Star, the 43-year-old admitted that he now, as a father, regrets tickling his friend David Baddiel’s son, Ezra.
“[It] fills me with dreadful shame and makes me want to punch myself in the face,” he told the Daily Star.
“Which is what I will do to anyone who tickles either of my daughters until they are old enough to decide for themselves whether they want to be tickled or not, which by my reckoning is at 35.”
Explaining that he thinks tickling is an “attempt to subvert a child’s bodily autonomy” and to deny them their “own space and peace”, Brand observed that tickling, whilst appearing to be a game, is in fact a double standard.
“Would you do it to an adult?” he asked. “Would you insert your rigid fingers into their belly or their armpits? Of course not.”
Brand’s comments come after he controversially admitted he’s not always the most engaged dad, and has never changed a nappy, earlier this month.
The tickling position has motivated social media commentary, with reactions to Brand’s stance varying from some applauding the perspective, to others calling it an over-reaction.
For many commenters, the timing of Brand’s opinion so soon after his admitting he isn’t a hands-on dad, discredited him. One Twitter user wrote, “Coming from the man who openly admits he can’t look after his children by himself!! All opinions null and void.”
Top Comments
I have always ensured tickling and wrestling games were an opportunity for my children to enforce their own boundaries while still indulging in the fun of these kinds of play while they were little. As a 13/14yr old attending my first work Xmas party (my mum worked there too) I was unceremoniously dragged onto an adult male’s lap & tickled to the point I could not only not breathe, I was crying and very nearly wet myself in a circle of work people including my bosses. I felt terribly violated, shamed and ashamed and vowed my children and those that I love would NEVER EVER have to endure something so horrible! No one in their right minds these days would think that was appropriate in any setting. I absolutely agree with RB and would never tickle someone else’s child, yet still wanting to play like that with my own meant they always knew if they said stop or no or no more tickle monster (which was our family take on the game) they were always listened to!
Yes stop tickling children i agree .. whether or not Brand parents his kids has got sfa to do with the issue! 🙄thats like saying you can only speak up about cruel farming practices if you re a vegetarian.