27 June, 2017
So apparently it is all the rage now among the kids at my son’s school to draw “penis art”. He came home the other day with both forearms covered in various colors of ink, of various shapes and sizes of, yes, you guessed it, penises, along with, of course, the accompanying 2 circles on either side.
While I tried not to look horrified, he explained how all the kids in the class, even the girls, had all drawn one, hence the great number and variety. He then proceeded to show me who did what, and pointed out one particularly long winding one –but as he explained, it was just because it had to snake between all the others that were drawn before it. I was surprised at the creativity and detail of some of them. And while I didn’t think it was a good idea, I have to say I was kind of fascinated by the whole thing. But then he paused a moment and told me one of his teachers also saw it and pulled him aside. I held my breath while he explained what happened next.
She told him, “C’mon, you’re a smart boy. Why did you do this to yourself?” I asked him if he told her that it was the other kids in his class, but he just said, “No, I didn’t want to blame anyone else.” While I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, I was proud of him and secretly glad he took full responsibility for it. And as it turned out, he didn’t actually get in any trouble, for which he seemed genuinely surprised (and greatly relieved).
I have to give his teacher credit here. While she probably realized she would never fully understand the minds of 12-year old boys, she also seemed to accept the fact that they were not all inherently evil, just exploring new found ways to express themselves, albeit not always appropriate.
As we headed out the door that evening to grab some dinner, my son stopped and said, “Wait, I have to do something first.” So I waited and heard the water running in his bathroom. When I went to take a peek, I saw he had taken a washcloth and soap and was scrubbing both arms. Some were still faintly visible, but for the most part his arms were now penis free.
“Don’t worry,” he said casually. “I can get the rest off in the shower later.” I was glad he realized on his own that the rest of the world probably wasn’t quite ready for 12-year old penis art. And while I tried to be cool about it, quite frankly, neither am I.
