Can you please tell me if children normally connect their private parts to the idea of sex or the reproductive parts of the opposite sex? I’m asking because I did so since around 7. Is it normal?<\/p>\n\t
A child, prior to puberty, has no built-in concept of what is sex. He will not typically make the connection of what his reproductive parts are for unless a child is exposed to the concept of sex, either by seeing it portrayed in sexual themed movies or even pornography or by being sexually abused by someone else. Even children who see animals mating, understand the concept of reproduction in general, but rarely apply the ideas to themselves. It is not until puberty hits and the child begins to feel sexual desire does the meaning of the parts suddenly makes sense.<\/p>\n
Every time I have discussed with parents the problem of a young, prepubescent child acting out sexually, I have always found that the child was sexually abused by someone else. The behavior is the first warning sign some parents get that someone is abusing their child. Often the child has no concept of what or why they are doing these things. It is just something that had happened to them, so they imitate the same “play” with someone else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Can you please tell me if children normally connect their private parts to the idea of sex or the reproductive parts of the opposite sex? I’m asking because I did so since around 7. Is it normal? Answer: A child, prior to puberty, has no built-in concept of what is sex. He will not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,1031,1028,1032],"tags":[637],"class_list":["post-18695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","category-childhood","category-parenting","category-preteen","tag-sex-education"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48724,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-do-i-start-talking-to-my-boys-about-nudity-puberty-growth-and-sexual-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":18695,"position":0},"title":"When do I start talking to my boys about nudity, puberty, growth, and sexual issues?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I'm a father of three boys. First off, I'll let you know some information about me. When I was a boy and an adolescent, my father never told me things about puberty, sex, or girls. He talked a little but never told me what they were or what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25730,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-was-born-with-a-foot-fetish-is-that-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":18695,"position":1},"title":"I was born with a foot fetish. Is that a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am a believer and I read all that you wrote about the subject\u00a0masturbation. I am glad that your answers are right and correct and according to the Holy Bible, but I have this problem and I could use some help because I don't know what to think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-married-couple-talk-dirty-during-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":18695,"position":2},"title":"Can a married couple talk dirty during sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have read through a lot of your Answered Questions and wanted to throw one out at you. Do you think it's improper for a married Christian couple to \"talk dirty\" during sex, using words and language they would ordinarily not use in daily conversation? (If no one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14025,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-is-a-child-old-enough-to-explain-concepts-like-rape-that-appear-in-a-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":18695,"position":3},"title":"When is a child old enough to explain concepts like rape that appear in a story?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a 10-year-old son who is being homeschooled. He is in a Medieval, Reformation, and Renaissance unit and will be reading a version of The Canterbury Tales that has been translated into modern English by Barbara Cohen. In this book, specifically in \"The Wife of Bath's Tale\" there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14049,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-has-my-preteen-daughter-started-growing-armpit-hair\/","url_meta":{"origin":18695,"position":4},"title":"Why has my preteen daughter started growing armpit hair?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why has my pre-teen daughter started growing armpit hair? She's 10! Answer: Auxiliary hair, such as armpit hair, can show up in a typical girl anywhere from 10 to 16 years of age. The average time for developing auxiliary hair is 11. So your daughter is within the normal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18096,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-the-differences-between-catholicism-and-christianity-in-regards-to-sex-abortion-and-stuff\/","url_meta":{"origin":18695,"position":5},"title":"What are the differences between Catholicism and Christianity in regards to sex, abortion, and stuff?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Ok. The thing is, I was baptized Roman Catholic. The information on the Internet is kind of confusing on the views of sex, abortion, and stuff.\u00a0 Is there any difference in these topics between Christianity and Catholicism? Answer: There are differences between what the Roman Catholic church teaches and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}