Playing doctor explained

"Playing doctor" is a phrase used colloquially in the Western world to refer to children examining each other's genitals.[1] It originates from children using the pretend roles of doctor and patient as a pretext for such an examination. However, whether or not such role-playing is involved, the phrase is used to refer to any similar examination.[2] [3] [4]

Playing doctor is distinguished from child-on-child sexual abuse because the latter is an overt and deliberate action directed at sexual stimulation, including orgasm, as compared to anatomical curiosity.[5] Playing doctor is considered by most child psychologists to be a normal step in childhood development between the ages of approximately three and six years, so long as all parties are willing participants and relatively close in age.[6] However, it can be a source of discomfort to parents to discover their children are engaging in such an activity.[7] Parenting professionals often advise parents to view such a discovery as an opportunity to calmly teach their children about the differences between the sexes, personal privacy, and respecting the privacy of other children.

A study by American sexologist Alfred Kinsey published in the book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) found that 38.6% of all 10-year-old children practice heterosexual and homosexual doctor play.[8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Is Your Preschooler Playing Doctor? . 4 September 2009 . FamilyEducation . Excerpted from: Book: Keith M. . Boyd . Kevin . Osborn . The Complete Idiot's Guide to Parenting a Preschooler and Toddler, Too . . USA . June 1997 . 978-0-02-861733-6 . registration .
  2. Web site: Lynn Blinn . Pike . Sexuality and Your Child: For Children Ages 3 to 7 . University of Missouri Extension . January 2001 . 4 September 2009 . dead . https://archive.today/20120720181038/http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=GH6002 . 20 July 2012.
  3. Web site: Victoria . Clayton . Playing doctor: How to teach kids about inappropriate touch . Growing Up Healthy . NBC News . 6 August 2004 . 4 September 2009.
  4. Web site: Marilyn . Heins . Sex Play: parenting strategies . https://web.archive.org/web/20080214114535/http://www.parentkidsright.com/pt-sexplay.html . ParentKidsRight . 2004 . 14 February 2008 . 4 September 2009.
  5. Book: Loseke, Donileen R. . Gelles, Richard J.. Cavanaugh, Mary M.. Current Controversies on Family Violence . Sage Publications Inc . 2005 . Thousand Oaks, CA . 0-7619-2106-0.
  6. Sexual Development and Behavior in Children: Information for Parents and Caregivers. 2009. American Psychological Association. 10.1037/e736972011-001.
  7. Web site: I Caught Them Playing Doctor! . 4 September 2009 . FamilyEducation . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090116190323/http://www.canadianparents.com/article/i-caught-them-playing-doctor . 16 January 2009 . Excerpted from: Book: Elizabeth . Pantley . William . Sears . Perfect Parenting: The Dictionary of 1,000 Parenting Tips . McGraw-Hill . June 1997 . 978-0-8092-2847-8 . registration .
  8. Book: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. 978-0-253-33412-1. Kinsey . Alfred Charles . Pomeroy . Wardell Baxter . Martin . Clyde Eugene . 1998 . Indiana University Press .

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