Child and Adolescent Sexuality


• The first stage is from birth to approximately 6 years of age. The physical body is primary; and sexual interests, curiosity, arousal and behavior are spontaneously expressed unless or until the child is taught to repress or inhibit her/his pleasure orientation.

Early Childhood Sexuality

• 2-5
• Genital play "I'll show you mine if you show me yours". Differences noticed
• No distinction between sexual and nonsexual-All play
• Bathroom fascination
• Preschool sweethearts
• Mounting of dominant male in playschool. Longfelt (1981)
• Parents see danger in sexual experimentation

• 5-7
• Fascination with "sex" words"and jokes
• Observation of adults behaviour and reactions
• Lots of role rehearsal
• Plans to "marry when I grow up"
• Pregnancy and defecation linked in child's mind

The second stage is from approximately age 6 to pubescence (approximately age 12). The physical growth ratio slows, the basic gross and fine motor coordination is accomplished and reliable and the primary attention of the child shifts to the mental realm. The desire for sexual pleasure continues; however, most children are thoughtful and discriminating about their sexual behavior and expressions. Their needs for privacy and autonomy characterize this stage

7-8

• Clear sense of gender difference
• Growing sense of modesty
• Curiosity about sexual anatomy - "doctors"
• Sex play
• Boys and girls segregate and dislike each other

My life as a dog

Questions:
How old is this boy?
What sexual issues are in the foreground for him at this stage? At the beginning, at the end?
Is he typical in his development?

Issues explored by the film "My Life as a Dog"

• Mother/ child relationship: Needing to be affirmed by her. Sexual component?
• Curiosity about facts of life. Group exploration.
• Influence of older children, development of self concept as sexual person, one's place in the group as sexual person
• Relationship with the 'opposite' sex.
• Variable speed of sexual development. Girls/boys/individuals.
• Need for same gender identification.

My life as a dog

• Attitudes towards sexuality being formed.
• Exploring the different ways in which sexuality is expressed. Old man, flirting at work, finding place in male world.
• The developing body.
• Sexually stimulating environment.
• Developing attachments. 'Homo/heterosexual' attractions.

Pre Adolescent

Typical sexual experiences:
• focused masturbation, orgasm, same-gender sex play w/peers, sibs, "crushes", "group dating" self-sought secrecy, privacy, sexual jokes, fantasies
• Need good controls for coercive sex by older minors and adults

Pre-Adolescent

• cognitive: willful, conscious pursuit of sex info, abstract jokes, planning
• erotic: love maps, internalized value , erotophobia - erotophilia
• interpersonal: other-incorporative (crushes); others as conscious source of sex stimulation - planned secret/private
• orientation: homosocial - self-imposed segregation, familiarity, comfort, availability sex play, sharing

The third stage is pubescence to early adolescence, and the age range is highly variable: approximately ages 13 to 15. As the hormones come into play, the body is once again primary, with rapid growth spurts, the development of secondary sex characteristics, sensations of increased intensity and a new awareness of the physical self and its impact on others in the social sense. Sexual behaviors respond to a stronger biological mandate, becoming a preoccupation which may be characterized by poor social judgment, high risk behavior and lack of discrimination.

A close look at American child rearing practices suggests that in terms of adult attitudes, boys exist in a heterosexually permissive culture. There is some expectation that "boys will be boys," which includes sexual experimentation and behavior; and as long as they do not blatantly flaunt their sexual interest and activities in front of adults, they receive little censure. Girls, on the other hand, are reared in what is essentially a sexually restrictive society in that their sexual interest, and certainly sexual behavior, is neither sanctioned nor ignored by adults.

In childhood, it moves toward a genital focus (more surely for boys than for girls) and is expressed through purposefully directed masturbatory activity and perhaps some negotiated social interaction (often with same sex partners). At pubescence, the genital focus intensifies, the acquisition of opposite sex partners gains importance for heterosexual youth and sexual experience per se is the paramount goal. In adolescence, this motivation of curiosity and self gratification emerges into one of sexual reciprocity and mutual sharing. Partnerships are increasingly stable, interdependent and emotionally intimate.

The fourth stage is mid to late adolescence; and again, the age range is variable: approximately age 16+. The body growth rate slows,, the hormonal balance is achieved, the secondary sex changes are incorporated into the body image, the sexual response cycle is accommodated through masturbation or partner sex and sexual gratification is integrated into the context of a relationship.





Sexual Education for Children

• What should I teach my child?
-- What do you want the outcome to be?

• Creating sexual culture
-- What type of society do you want?
erotophobia vs erotophilia
condemnation vs celebration
celibacy vs high expression

De facto Parental Education

• emotional reaction to body: excretory vs. sexual function
• use of language: barrier vs. bridge for communication
• seek knowledge: nurturing vs inhibiting curiosity
• modelling adult sex: children around the world are privy to parents sexuality

Promoting safety without promoting fear

• Readiness: Internal locus of control
• Autonomy: Ownership of body
• Privacy: Personal boundaries
• Security: No coercion, exploitation
• Safety: No pregnancy; no STDs
• Intimacy: Sharing and caring
• Egalitarian: No age/power difference

Adolescent Sexual Health

• What should sexuality education encompass?
• What are the benefits of sex education?
• Who is responsible for providing sex education?
• What are the most effective formats for sex education?

• Favoured by all
• Content controversial
• STIs, birth control, reproduction, promotion of sexual abstinence.
• Masturbation, sexual orientation, prostitution

Curricula

• Safer sex practices
• Abstinence till marriage

-- Both types have goal of postponing sexual intercourse until they are prepared for responsible action.

• Sex education: Does not promote sexual activity
• Sex education: May not be enough to change sexual behaviour. Need of combination, peer counselling, availability of condoms, sexual health services.
• Most effective programs involve parents.