Colleague 1
Understanding children is to understand the parent. How parent communicate is often a reflection of the child. I think that parents should explain to children on a basic level by explaining each and every body part to a child even the genital area. This give a children a level of understand what body parts they have and as they get older many parents then explain what is and what is not appropriate. Some behaviors may seem to others as sexual but children may grab a part of their body for soothing or calmness. It is not an easy discussion for parents to have with their children because it may be uncomfortable. Sexual behavior is what we are meant to do as humans everything is evolved around procreation(Survival, work, food). I would explain to parents touching another persons body part without consent is in appropriate but when a child does something that may be uncomfortable it is best to have a conversation and explain why certain gestures may be inappropriate so that the child may correct the behavior. The therapists role is to question, probe, and challenge the psyche of the patient in an effort to interpret, clarify, and affirm the patients needs and wishes. Inherent in the role is the belief that such objective and helpful intervention is possible only if the therapists private needs and wishes are not gratified(Levine, 2016). Lastly, i would explain that that during the ages from 3-4 a child identifies body parts and During this time, a child will also begin to sense whether they should accept their bodies or will start to feel shame depending on how the caregiver responds or reacts towards their wondering hands (Sciaraffa & Randolph, 2011).
References
Levine, S. B., Risen, C. B., & Althof, S. E. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of clinical sexuality for mental health professionals (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Sciaraffa, M., & Randolph, T. (2011). You want me to talk to children about what? Responding to the subject of sexuality development in young children. Young Children, 66(4), 3238.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
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Colleague 2 al
Growing up we all have stories of our parents telling us in their way about sex and the consequences that come along with it. From what I can remember my mother did her best to talk to me about sex but all I got from it was not to get pregnant. Now that I have my child I can see how a conversation like this can be hard and even uncomfortable with that being said all that I can do is communicate with him when the time is right. When giving advice or counseling a parent I can let them know that making it into a normal conversation and not making uncomfortable can be one step. According to Secor- Tuner, Sieving, Eisenberg, & Skay “Parents can convey their expectations related to teen sex, contraception, and pregnancy through direct parent child communication”. They can try to use scenarios and examples that their children can understand.
When can never put an age to when a child may be developmentally ready to display sexual behaviors, it all depends on who they are around and what they see, if anything was to happen or the parents are not sure how to handle it they can have conversations with a professional and have “open dialogue between parents and child as soon as the child is at a developmentally appropriate age for comprehension”( Weidler & Peterson, 2019). A lot of times a child’s sexual behavior can be a cry out for help or as stated previously a reaction from what they have seen, not saying the could have seen this from their parents but it could be based on behaviors from people on TV as well.
When I taught my preschoolers I was able to immediately tell when they learned something that wasn’t taught from school by their actions and the things they said. For example, I had a student who touched herself a lot and would say her private hurt whenever she would wipe in the restroom. I immediately shared this with a family advocate and the situation was handled with the family. Being able to know your child or students enough to know that they are not their normal selves.
Secor-Turner, M., Sieving, R., Eisenberg, M.,&Skay, C. (2011). Associations between sexually experienced adolescents’ sources of information about sex and sexual risk outcomes. Sex Education, 11(4), 489-500. http://doi-org.ezp.waldenlibrary.org/10/1080/146811.2011.601137
Weidler, E,M.,& Peterson, K. E. (2019). The impact of culture on disclosure in difference of sex development. Seminars in Pediatric Surgery, 26(5), 150840. http://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.101016/j.sempedsurg.2019.150840
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