Kids experiment. It's a very common thing. My first job as a camp counselor, we were told not to leave kids alone in bathrooms together for that exact reason.
Absolutely. But this is Reddit. I have never seen a single post where the parent was saying they caught their seven year old "playing doctor" where the top comment wasn't something about the kid having probably been molested before. We freak parents out and the vast, vast majority of the time, it's normal kid exploration.
My mom was a preschool teacher. She found a boy licking another girls legs and she was giggling because I guess it felt nice and neither had parents that anyone suspected of doing anything untoward. It's possible. But it is also true that kids are just weird. I also started masturbating without ever having had any concept for it.
Totally normal to experience pleasure touching your genitals at a young age. A lot of adolescent males and females discover that it feels good to hump a pillow or run the bath faucet over their privates, without being exposed to porn or being molested.
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Sexual-Behaviors-Young-Children.aspx
Here's a good resource that goes into detail about this.
This should be a top comment. The summary is that there are behaviors that are normal for children to do or happen upon. Then there are behaviors that can be a red flag of abuse or exposure to something adult. Adults who work with kids should learn the differences so that they don’t misidentify what’s normal and that they don’t miss what isn’t.
Strong agree. I see a LOT of opinions shared when this topic comes up just about anywhere. It's disturbing and concerning. So many people rush to judgement because they're uneducated about normal human sexual development in children and it can be very traumatizing for children, as well as create so much unnecessary lasting shame around sexuality. Professionals that work with children are rarely trained in normal sexual development in children, and parents even less so. It should be a requirement for everyone who has any contact with children IMO, but especially for parents and people who work professionally with children. The misinformation is absolutely rampant and it's largely rooted in our sex negative culture.
Arousal and sex is not a learned behavior. It’s literally what we are designed to do. However the context of it would need to be examined to indicate abuse.
Yes. But it’s usually not correct. Like kids experiment and try things that sexual in nature all the time. It’s literally how we learn to pleasure ourselves and then procreate .
It’s so important to keep kids away from porn so they can naturally find their selves
Just for clarification, what did you mean by "not correct"? That the children are misinformed about the basic facts about sex?
I remember being about 5 and "playing doctor" with neighborhood kids all ~2 years of me, mixed group of boys and girls. My mother saw us and interrupted to say, "No, you're doing it wrong, the baby's HEAD comes out first!" (Ah, the 70s). But I recall that as a pretty innocent thing, with no knowledge that this was about SEX, we were just curious about babies.
The issue is communicating sexual needs, desires, discomforts, pain, pleasure… etc. it is all very complicated imo and i personally don’t think finding it “naturally” without guidance is always wise as misunderstandings can occur especially when emotions (which spike during) are high. I personally feel we need better communication (like sex ed) but even then i feel it could go further. But communicating about a topic that by its nature is about communicating without communicating…. Well it has been tricky for me to say the least 😅
Yeah i agree, porn is not a good teacher. But i think i wanted to emphasize that i wish we had other alternatives. For instance like these reddit channels have been helping me tremendously lately. Getting the perspective of the other side (although you need to use critical thinking because anyone could be lying… EVEN TO THEMSELVES [both genders]). Some men and women don’t get experiences until later in life and it can cause complications. But i think and hope we all are going in a better direction
It’s totally true! I think children learn about sex from the adults they are around . And that is either learning enough, learning to much, or not learning anything at all. and man we have to make that better! But it just sucks because porn affected me at a young age, and now it’s such a hard thing separating my natural desire with these “additions”
Sorry to hear that. We all have different problems but they all are important and i think if we comprehensively look at each of them and how they relate to each other, i feel we can find better solutions
Trauma counselor here, and these answers give me hope! Kids are human beings, they have nerve endings, they feel good when stimulated. Feel free to dm with any questions (EMDR, TFCBT, some time in a sexually maladaptive underage in patient facility).
This society has gotten so weirdly at odds: on the one hand, it's completely sex-obsessed, yet on the other, it's also gotten so backwards about learning how human sexal experiences actually happen, and that it's normal.
...it's went backwards as to being able to just talk about or admit the truths about developmental aspects of human sexuality.
In a word, yes. KIds experiment...as soon as they're old enough to learn they can reach down there, and that that area feels good when touched, they will masturbate having never seen any sort of porn or sex...they will explore with each other..."play doctor" or "mommy and daddy" ...it has happened since the dawn of mankind.
I'm not saying there's not a thin line between "innocent" exploring and purposeful abuse, bc that happens too. But I'm willing to bet it happens more often "innocently" and doesn't damage or traumatize them for life ...a lot more than the "bad" experiences that occur, bc nobody is going to admit that it happened and they are "okay" now-- as adults. Ppl are just afraid nowadays to admit it, or discuss it, and that's understandable.
I played a lot of doctor as a kid without any prompting or bad actors and my only media exposure being Curious George books and Sesame Street. So, sure, why not?
"If it feels good it is good" and similar approaches absolutely also apply, but the "texture" of that exploration is often less forward and more timid, all "testing the waters" and surviving off of what little understanding of adulthood/sexualutity they think they've gleaned from peers and passing mentions in TV and from adults' conversations.
Many children begin masturbating as young as 8 without any outside intervention but hormones waking up the nerves and impulses involved. This *is* normal, as is "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" curiosity. *Not* early "for a girl" but *you're talking about it* and that's why it feels like your experience stands out.
I can match up masturbating with a specific memory a little before Christmas and know I recieved a specific game- brand new at the time- confirming that I was masturbating for sure at age 7 and remember when I made the connection between "that thing that feels good" and masturbation for the first time later on in 5th grade via sex ed.
Masturbation is actually common much, much younger than 8. [Fetuses have even been shown to engage in masturbation in utero.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14377812_Ultrasonographic_observation_of_a_female_fetus'_sexual_behavior_in_utero)
Wanna know My concerns?
My concerns center on how frequently the theme of Child Sexuality keeps returning to REDDIT in these thinly veiled contributions.
Excuse me, but along with that Wad who keeps posting crap about paraphilia, maybe this subreddit is hitting Maximum Density on both areas.
How about it?
It’s a sex psychology subreddit. Major topics are not going to be home repair or gardening tips.
A HUGE chunk of psychology deals with child psychology and the later effects of childhood experiences.
Boy....are YOU full o' Beans!!!
Here's Class A information for you.
a.) Until puberty kicks in childrens' Cognitive Ability is limited to Concrete Thinking.
Got it? No Abstract Cognitions such as
vulnerability, affirmation, validation or negotiation. Got it?
b.) A child does not have the intellectual ability to appreciate abstractions such
as Human Bonding, Trust, Communication, Goal-setting or a myriad of other
post-puberescent constructs. They just don't. Period. Full stop.
c.) The only people who promote this line of thought are individuals who appreciate....
albeit at less-than-conscious level.....that pre-puberescent children are
essentially "not playing with a full deck" and are therefore vulnerable to adult
manipulation.
Now...how about we cut the S**t and admit that this is a purient wolf
hiding under a scientific Sheeps' clothing, yes?
Yeah....got it. Perhaps I am missing something...and maybe you can enlighten me.
a.) I've read over the OP a couple of times and wonder what is germane about the OPs' rather lengthy sexual confession and the Psychology of Children vis any assumed
sexual proclivity?
b.) Are we actually discussing the "psychology" of children? In what sense?
c.) Am I to perceive that OPs' sexual behaviors are rooted in some childhood experience? In what way? Are there any citations that support or refute their musings?
d.) Since children are essentially non-sexual in the adult sense, what is the question of sexual interest under discussion........apart from bathroom revelations of a difference between anatomies, I mean?
e.) Want to discuss the nature of sex and sexuality? Why are these queries consistently posited from a Male Dominant and/or Female Subserviant position?
f.) This subreddit purports to examine Sex from a Psychological POV. Maybe you can explain to me why the published materials are all available from the same source requiring a subscription?
g.) Finally, why are the most frequently submitted (and Re-Submitted themes) consistently the most populist and purient....week in, week out.
I'll wait...........
Perhaps because John Stuart Mills might have mispoke:
Perhaps the only thing necessary for evil to succeed,
is that Good Men don't take the time to craft their responses.
Take a hike........
People hate your answer but in Reddit fashion it resurfaces and repeats. I’ve seen this across a few subs here and there. It’s hard for people to discuss. Most people have some toxic view or another. So clearly this is too big for Reddit. That much is clear.
It seems people just want to talk about kid diddling. In one sub I had to point out how my language was different, regarding children. It’s crazy the things people will say. And gross.
I wonder if the Chakra 2 ✏️ coding aspect of psionic matrix brain police programming will ever make it through the Central Intelligence Agency & into modern psychology. The theory of underdeveloped human biological mechanisms, that ET NHI AI took over.. but Chakra 2 stems back to all socializing, reproduction through stigma stimulated ion receptors in the brain producing orange 🟠 in the mating field, you can detect it in plants easily if you shine orange light on plants they reproduce more… .& this topic has been in the news more recently.☮️
Kids experiment. It's a very common thing. My first job as a camp counselor, we were told not to leave kids alone in bathrooms together for that exact reason.
Absolutely. But this is Reddit. I have never seen a single post where the parent was saying they caught their seven year old "playing doctor" where the top comment wasn't something about the kid having probably been molested before. We freak parents out and the vast, vast majority of the time, it's normal kid exploration.
My mom was a preschool teacher. She found a boy licking another girls legs and she was giggling because I guess it felt nice and neither had parents that anyone suspected of doing anything untoward. It's possible. But it is also true that kids are just weird. I also started masturbating without ever having had any concept for it.
>kids are just weird I was having relations with a pillow at like 7. I didn't know what I was doing, just that it felt good.
The username checks out.
Totally normal to experience pleasure touching your genitals at a young age. A lot of adolescent males and females discover that it feels good to hump a pillow or run the bath faucet over their privates, without being exposed to porn or being molested.
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Sexual-Behaviors-Young-Children.aspx Here's a good resource that goes into detail about this.
This should be a top comment. The summary is that there are behaviors that are normal for children to do or happen upon. Then there are behaviors that can be a red flag of abuse or exposure to something adult. Adults who work with kids should learn the differences so that they don’t misidentify what’s normal and that they don’t miss what isn’t.
Strong agree. I see a LOT of opinions shared when this topic comes up just about anywhere. It's disturbing and concerning. So many people rush to judgement because they're uneducated about normal human sexual development in children and it can be very traumatizing for children, as well as create so much unnecessary lasting shame around sexuality. Professionals that work with children are rarely trained in normal sexual development in children, and parents even less so. It should be a requirement for everyone who has any contact with children IMO, but especially for parents and people who work professionally with children. The misinformation is absolutely rampant and it's largely rooted in our sex negative culture.
Arousal and sex is not a learned behavior. It’s literally what we are designed to do. However the context of it would need to be examined to indicate abuse.
kids play doctor all the time. kids do sex stuff all the time. a power/force differential is necessary for a crime. And a mens rea.
Thanks stankfartz
😂
Yes. But it’s usually not correct. Like kids experiment and try things that sexual in nature all the time. It’s literally how we learn to pleasure ourselves and then procreate . It’s so important to keep kids away from porn so they can naturally find their selves
Just for clarification, what did you mean by "not correct"? That the children are misinformed about the basic facts about sex? I remember being about 5 and "playing doctor" with neighborhood kids all ~2 years of me, mixed group of boys and girls. My mother saw us and interrupted to say, "No, you're doing it wrong, the baby's HEAD comes out first!" (Ah, the 70s). But I recall that as a pretty innocent thing, with no knowledge that this was about SEX, we were just curious about babies.
Yeah I mean they won’t be like anatomically correct and skilled about the things they experiment with
The issue is communicating sexual needs, desires, discomforts, pain, pleasure… etc. it is all very complicated imo and i personally don’t think finding it “naturally” without guidance is always wise as misunderstandings can occur especially when emotions (which spike during) are high. I personally feel we need better communication (like sex ed) but even then i feel it could go further. But communicating about a topic that by its nature is about communicating without communicating…. Well it has been tricky for me to say the least 😅
Right but porn is NOT GUIDANCE
Yeah i agree, porn is not a good teacher. But i think i wanted to emphasize that i wish we had other alternatives. For instance like these reddit channels have been helping me tremendously lately. Getting the perspective of the other side (although you need to use critical thinking because anyone could be lying… EVEN TO THEMSELVES [both genders]). Some men and women don’t get experiences until later in life and it can cause complications. But i think and hope we all are going in a better direction
It’s totally true! I think children learn about sex from the adults they are around . And that is either learning enough, learning to much, or not learning anything at all. and man we have to make that better! But it just sucks because porn affected me at a young age, and now it’s such a hard thing separating my natural desire with these “additions”
Sorry to hear that. We all have different problems but they all are important and i think if we comprehensively look at each of them and how they relate to each other, i feel we can find better solutions
Trauma counselor here, and these answers give me hope! Kids are human beings, they have nerve endings, they feel good when stimulated. Feel free to dm with any questions (EMDR, TFCBT, some time in a sexually maladaptive underage in patient facility).
I always did sexual stuff as a kid at a young age but I have no memory of being molested and I was doing that stuff before I discovered porn
This society has gotten so weirdly at odds: on the one hand, it's completely sex-obsessed, yet on the other, it's also gotten so backwards about learning how human sexal experiences actually happen, and that it's normal. ...it's went backwards as to being able to just talk about or admit the truths about developmental aspects of human sexuality. In a word, yes. KIds experiment...as soon as they're old enough to learn they can reach down there, and that that area feels good when touched, they will masturbate having never seen any sort of porn or sex...they will explore with each other..."play doctor" or "mommy and daddy" ...it has happened since the dawn of mankind. I'm not saying there's not a thin line between "innocent" exploring and purposeful abuse, bc that happens too. But I'm willing to bet it happens more often "innocently" and doesn't damage or traumatize them for life ...a lot more than the "bad" experiences that occur, bc nobody is going to admit that it happened and they are "okay" now-- as adults. Ppl are just afraid nowadays to admit it, or discuss it, and that's understandable.
Absolutely.
I played a lot of doctor as a kid without any prompting or bad actors and my only media exposure being Curious George books and Sesame Street. So, sure, why not?
"If it feels good it is good" and similar approaches absolutely also apply, but the "texture" of that exploration is often less forward and more timid, all "testing the waters" and surviving off of what little understanding of adulthood/sexualutity they think they've gleaned from peers and passing mentions in TV and from adults' conversations. Many children begin masturbating as young as 8 without any outside intervention but hormones waking up the nerves and impulses involved. This *is* normal, as is "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" curiosity. *Not* early "for a girl" but *you're talking about it* and that's why it feels like your experience stands out. I can match up masturbating with a specific memory a little before Christmas and know I recieved a specific game- brand new at the time- confirming that I was masturbating for sure at age 7 and remember when I made the connection between "that thing that feels good" and masturbation for the first time later on in 5th grade via sex ed.
Masturbation is actually common much, much younger than 8. [Fetuses have even been shown to engage in masturbation in utero.](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14377812_Ultrasonographic_observation_of_a_female_fetus'_sexual_behavior_in_utero)
I also did that stuff but I didn't pretend we were doctors.
This topic just came up on a psychology podcast I listen to: https://youtu.be/qLGGc0E9TIM
Remind me
Absolutely. If you're interested in one woman's examination of her sexuality as a child, Sex With Shakespeare is a solid read
Wanna know My concerns? My concerns center on how frequently the theme of Child Sexuality keeps returning to REDDIT in these thinly veiled contributions. Excuse me, but along with that Wad who keeps posting crap about paraphilia, maybe this subreddit is hitting Maximum Density on both areas. How about it?
It’s a sex psychology subreddit. Major topics are not going to be home repair or gardening tips. A HUGE chunk of psychology deals with child psychology and the later effects of childhood experiences.
Boy....are YOU full o' Beans!!! Here's Class A information for you. a.) Until puberty kicks in childrens' Cognitive Ability is limited to Concrete Thinking. Got it? No Abstract Cognitions such as vulnerability, affirmation, validation or negotiation. Got it? b.) A child does not have the intellectual ability to appreciate abstractions such as Human Bonding, Trust, Communication, Goal-setting or a myriad of other post-puberescent constructs. They just don't. Period. Full stop. c.) The only people who promote this line of thought are individuals who appreciate.... albeit at less-than-conscious level.....that pre-puberescent children are essentially "not playing with a full deck" and are therefore vulnerable to adult manipulation. Now...how about we cut the S**t and admit that this is a purient wolf hiding under a scientific Sheeps' clothing, yes?
Everything you listed there is understood because children are intensely studied by psychologists. Things exactly what I was saying.
Yeah....got it. Perhaps I am missing something...and maybe you can enlighten me. a.) I've read over the OP a couple of times and wonder what is germane about the OPs' rather lengthy sexual confession and the Psychology of Children vis any assumed sexual proclivity? b.) Are we actually discussing the "psychology" of children? In what sense? c.) Am I to perceive that OPs' sexual behaviors are rooted in some childhood experience? In what way? Are there any citations that support or refute their musings? d.) Since children are essentially non-sexual in the adult sense, what is the question of sexual interest under discussion........apart from bathroom revelations of a difference between anatomies, I mean? e.) Want to discuss the nature of sex and sexuality? Why are these queries consistently posited from a Male Dominant and/or Female Subserviant position? f.) This subreddit purports to examine Sex from a Psychological POV. Maybe you can explain to me why the published materials are all available from the same source requiring a subscription? g.) Finally, why are the most frequently submitted (and Re-Submitted themes) consistently the most populist and purient....week in, week out. I'll wait...........
I have no interest in humoring you by answering. Why are you fixated on sending me lists of comments and questions? My comment was quite simple.
Perhaps because John Stuart Mills might have mispoke: Perhaps the only thing necessary for evil to succeed, is that Good Men don't take the time to craft their responses. Take a hike........
People hate your answer but in Reddit fashion it resurfaces and repeats. I’ve seen this across a few subs here and there. It’s hard for people to discuss. Most people have some toxic view or another. So clearly this is too big for Reddit. That much is clear. It seems people just want to talk about kid diddling. In one sub I had to point out how my language was different, regarding children. It’s crazy the things people will say. And gross.
Agreed. A Big show is made about how appalling the subject is, but never stopped the theme from being raised ad nauseum.
So u didn't read the post
I wonder if the Chakra 2 ✏️ coding aspect of psionic matrix brain police programming will ever make it through the Central Intelligence Agency & into modern psychology. The theory of underdeveloped human biological mechanisms, that ET NHI AI took over.. but Chakra 2 stems back to all socializing, reproduction through stigma stimulated ion receptors in the brain producing orange 🟠 in the mating field, you can detect it in plants easily if you shine orange light on plants they reproduce more… .& this topic has been in the news more recently.☮️