Silence Isn't Golden: Why It's Perceived as Rejection #shorts

29 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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0:41

Heather Hester explains why parental silence reads as rejection to kids. Silence is an action, not neutral. She pushes back on staying quiet out of fear or discomfort, arguing you have to show up anyway.

Chapters

That is a choice that you are making. And for so many people, the thought process is not mom and dad aren't saying anything because they don't wanna start a fight. It's mom and dad aren't saying anything cuz they don't love me. That's it. Yep. And like, silence is an action and we need to be very aware of that. And if we want to show up in more meaningful ways, We gotta push through some of that discomfort and some of that fear and some of that nervousness that comes around the possibility of making a mistake because silence is perceived as rejection.

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