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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A friend said that her child and another child in the same class were caught looking at and touching each other’s private areas. It was in an “exploring” type way and neither was upset by the interaction, they just seemed curious about their parts. 
She is insisting that they have assaulted each other and wants to know how to proceed. These kids are 6 and mine are younger so I’m not sure how I would even proceed.

I just remember “playing house” or “playing doctor” as a kid and it wasn’t a scary experience. I always thought it was a normal kid thing to do. She insists that I was also assaulted.

Am I way off base here?[/quote]

This is a supervision issue more than anything. They didnt assault one another but do both need more in-depth conversations about bodily autonomy and that even if you are okay with it and so is the other person its unsafe and unhygienic to display/touch your own privates or someone else's. They need their curiosity addressed in other ways and they OBVIOUSLY need talking to about proper behavior and privates. It is completely normal for a kid to have questions or want to see how other peoples bodies work. BUT that type of behavior should have been addressed a long time ago. The difference would be if you have a kid that is much older like 8/9 with a 6 year old. That could be considered coercive and older kids know better but (2) same aged kids is different.

I would be 100% weirded out if this was in a classroom or some other space that is supposed to have supervision.

Also, this is why we dont do sleepovers, play dates in closed room, etc. Doctor should not be played naked and no undressing is required to play doctor. Part of this is that many people dont address these issues before they happen and then blame the kids for being perverts or something. And the other part is ignorance. [/quote]

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