Keith Russell

Greetings:

I don't think our actions should be defined by what others might think.

I think a six-year old can understand that parts of our bodies are private (say 'special' if you want) and that we don't show them to people casually--out of respect for ourselves, not because of what others might think of us.

In about five or six years, the 'special' nature of these parts can be explained a bit more explicitly.

Keith.

[ September 25, 2002: Message edited by: Keith Russell ]</p>

K

Wait! doesn't it make you go blind? I guess I have years and years to make up for.

But seriously, when my three year old does it, we just tell him that it's a private thing that he should do when he's alone. He's pretty good about remembering - except when he gets nervous. Unfortunately he usually gets nervous when he's meeting strangers.

echidna

Steve Martin - The Jerk

A Pumpkin Drifter

I think the taboo behind masturbation started when parents were repulsed to find their children pleasuring themselves when they still viewed their children as indeed "My little Boy/Girl".

I think they were just surprised how fast their kids were actually growing up and surprised by the fact that they were sexually pleasuring themselves.

I think masturbation won't be so looked down upon in maybe 2 or 3 more generations (mostly not looked down upon, there are still those religious and those who will be stubborn and stick to their parents or families beliefs) because i see society in general is going up in levels of intelligence, tolerance, and conscious.

Also, this is my first post here so, HELLO EVERYBODY!!!!!

D.H. Cross

ummm...I thought that masturbation was only an issue with boys who were past puberty. Guess not. Odd, as I have no memory at all of even thinking about it until around age 12 (which is predictable). <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Ted Hoffman

Amen Moses,
The idea of masturbation never crossed my mind until I was 22. All of my earlier life I heard talk about masturbation but never gave it much thought.
I doubt that your kid was masturbating. At six, he was probably just playing with his thing or scratching himself - unless he has really been watching pornographic stuff with grown men at the act.
Tell him at his age, he would be better off doing something else than indulging himself in such activities. You figure out what that something else is.

Then explain to him that there are things that people consider private and those that are considered public. Those that are considered private are the ones that touch on personal aspects of ones autonomy. Tell him, self-respect starts from how he handles his private matters and tell him if he continues doing that in public, very soon, the dog will come and try to bite it off thinking its a plaything. And we simply dont want that do we now?

ax

six!!! jesus christ! He was just playing with himself as a normal child does when discovering themself. If he was say 13-28 then I'd be upset by the public display. Just tell him that it isn't to be shown in public. But 6?? relax fella.

lunachick

Yeah, it's a normal part of self-discovery. My daughter would masturbate sometimes when she was about 2 till about 4 or 5. She'd found a little pleasure button and was enjoying it, so I told her to do that privately. ("Don't do that here, Zoe - go to your room, babe! Sheesh!!") At which point she would laugh and stop, or disappear for awhile into her room. She seems to have stopped the masturbation thing for now, (she's 8) but I'm sure it'll start again in the not-to-distant future - and I hope it's in private. But let's face it - as ax has said, kids masturbating is not about sex, it's about discovering something pleasurable with their own bodies. They're just exploring sensations.

I wonder if you could use the stranger/danger argument - if he's doing it in front of the wrong person, he may get hurt. I've also explained that one to my daughter, as they learn about stranger/danger at school and she seems to understand that pretty well.

Good luck with the public/private thing, Amen-Moses. And thanks for the giggle!!

Novowels

I must be watching Cartoon Network at the wrong time.

Lord Asriel

LOL