Is childhood touching/ “playing doctor” just considered assault now?

[Anonymous]

There may be issues around the kids doing this, but the main problem is that your friend is very dangerous, and you need to distance yourself.

[Anonymous]

No, it’s not normal or ok. How would you think one child touching another child’s private parts is ok?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like the obvious solution is to get the government involved, right? Charge each child with sexual assault. Have CPS remove them from their homes and placed in the care of foster parents or house them at a city youth shelter. Register them as sex offenders.

There’s a whole entire segment of the govt that handles this stuff.

Might as well get your money’s worth as a tax payer. It’s all paid for by you.

Cos would not get involved. However it should be questioned if one child is being sexually abused as this is not normal.

[Anonymous]

Agree that this is more concerning if it happened at school. If not, she needs to talk to her child and explain why this cannot happen again. This is not assault either way, but wtf if these kids were able to undress this quickly at these ages. Also establish rules of doors always open etc.

Definitely should not make the kids feel ashamed either. Agree your friend needs to process this and may have unresolved trauma herself.

[Anonymous]

I think CPS would get involved if there was intentional touching, like oral sex, fingering etc. Looking and touching for one second, etc. seems pretty normal. Obviously if one kid knows how to use sex organs for sex there is something more to look into, along with more to process for the other child who has now been exposed to this. Makes me think of the Jessica Simpson story sadly.

[Anonymous]

My kids would not play doctor like this. Dh is a doctor. WTF. I would be very upset if my first grader participated in this and another child touched her.

[Anonymous]

I never played house or doctor like this as a kid. The kids who did probably had some sort of improper exposure or experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not assault, and curiosity is normal, but the mom should have already had talks (plural) with her kid about privacy, consent, and not touching or letting others touch private areas. If you talk about it before there's "an issue" it doesn't have to be a shaming thing, just a fact: we pee in the toilet with the door shut, we wear clothes out of the house, we don't touch others in certain places or let them touch us.

+1, these are conversations you hopefully have as you potty train and as your kid develops bodily autonomy from you (bathing on their own, etc.)

I agree having conversations is good and necessary. But I can also tell you that I’ve talked with my kid about this type of stuff and read books, but we still had an I’ll show you mine if you show me yours moment when he was in kindergarten (not at school though). So don’t assume just because you’ve talked with your kid this wouldn’t happen or that a kid who does this hasn’t had talks at home.

Sometimes curiosity still gets to these kids.