"Important than any medal that I could ever win" - Aly Raisman reflects on teaching children the importance of bodily autonomy

Aly Raisman, the former Olympic gold medalist, recently shared her joy in teaching kids about bodily autonomy and the importance of recognizing a bad touch. Raisman even authored a book titled 'From My Head to My Toes' to help kids understand the significance of consent.

On Wednesday (Nov. 27), the 30-year-old appeared at a Ford Foundation event where she spoke about the deep emotional impact she feels when young kids demonstrate awareness of bodily autonomy and consent. She shared that these moments are far more valuable to her than any medals she has won in her illustrious gymnastics career.

The video of her speech was shared by The Meteor in collaboration with the Ford Foundation on Instagram, where Raisman stated:

"Having a little kid come up to me and tell me that, you know, they know now that if someone wants to hug them, they can say no is really important than any medal that I could ever win."

"You know I've had a three-year-old say, you know 'if someone touches me, I can tell them to stop or I can tell someone and that just means a lot to me and something I wish that, you know, I had had more awareness of when I was younger," she added.

In her professional career, Aly Raisman has made her mark as one of the trailblazing figures in the gymnastics domain by winning six Olympic medals and four World Championship medals. The Needham, Massachusetts native served as the captain of the US women's Olympic gymnastics team for both her Summer Games appearances in 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio. At the London Olympics, she earned two gold medals and a bronze, while at the Rio Games she brought home one gold and two silver medals.

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"I have a platform, and it’s important for me to use it" - Aly Raisman on spreading awareness about mental health and abuse

Aly Raisman at the 2018 Massachusetts Conference For Women - Opening Night (Source: Getty)

In an October conversation with NOCD Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Patrick McGrath, Aly Raisman shared that she aims to use her social platforms to address topics that are often considered taboo, which includes awareness about mental health and the importance of self-care.

"I have a platform, and it’s important for me to use it to talk about things that are hard to discuss and that a lot of people are going through. We all know what it feels like to go through ups and downs, and go through hard times. I have found there are a lot of people who are suffering in silence and don’t have a support system; they may not even have one person they can go to ask for help," she said.

Aly Raisman also said that the more she became vocal about these issues, the more people started to relate to her, which made her feel less isolated.