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This post about kids and consent just sparked a really important debate.

Kids showing affection to people they're unfamiliar with is not just about manners.

In July 2015, CNN writer Katia Hetter updated an article she first wrote in 2012 about not forcing her now-7-year-old daughter to hug or kiss anyone, even relatives.

In the article, she candidly explained how she communicated the idea to her then-4-year-old daughter: "I would like you to hug Grandma, but I won't make you do it."

Hetter wanted her daughter to learn consent, to know that her body belonged to her and her alone. If she didn't want to give a person she hardly knew or had just met a hug, she didn't need to.

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