'Tell them no': Mum reveals why she tells her child not to share with others

A woman has taken to social media to let others know why she believes her child isn't required to share with other children, with most parents in agreement with her.

Missouri mother, Alanya Kolberg, posted a lengthy explanation on Facebook that has since been shared almost 220,000 times and has almost 700 comments.

Ms Kolberg said her son was approached by at least six boys at once when he was playing with his toys in the playground.

They "demanded" they share his transformer, Minecraft figure and truck, leaving him visibly overwhelmed.

"He clutched them to his chest as the boys reached for them. He looked at me. "You can tell them no, Carson" I said, "Just say no. You don't have to say anything else," Ms Kolberg wrote in the post.

"Of course, as soon as he said no, the boys ran to tattle to me that he was not sharing. I said, "He doesn't have to share with you. He said no. If he wants to share, he will."

Ms Kolberg said she received some "dirty" looks from other parents.

"If I, an adult, walked into the park eating a sandwich, am I required to share my sandwich with strangers in the park? No!"

"Would any well-mannered adult, a stranger, reach out to help themselves to my sandwich, and get huffy if I pulled it away? No again."

"So really, while you're giving me dirty looks, presumably thinking my son and I are rude, whose manners are lacking here? The person reluctant to give his three toys away to six strangers, or the six strangers demanding to be given something that doesn't belong to them, even when the owner is obviously uncomfortable?"

Facebook users commented on the post, most in agreement with her idea on the subject.

However, some didn't see the logic in Ms Kolberg's post.

Ms Kolberg said she is trying to teach her son how to function as adults which doesn't always include saying 'yes' or sharing.

"While I do know some adults who clearly never learned how to share as children, I know far more who don't know how to say no to people, or how to set boundaries, or how to practice self-care. Myself included," she said.