РефератыИностранный языкThThe Sexual Enlightenment Of Children

The Sexual Enlightenment Of Children

” Essay, Research Paper


Jeffrey Miller


Intro to Psychology


Due: 4-17-98


A review of “The Sexual Enlightenment of Children”


by Sigmud Freud


“The Sexual Enlightenment of Children” is an open


letter written by Dr. Sigmund Freud to M. Furst, editor


of Soziale Medizin und Hygiene. It deals with the ways


that children learn about sexuality and how them


learning it the wrong way could possibly scare them for


the rest of there lives. He does this by using examples


for his own work and the work of other psychologists


dealing with the sexual development of young people.


Freud opens the letter by letting Furst know that


when asked this question he took it as wanting the


opinion of one doctor who could base his opinion on his


work and not as someone using the large amount of


literature that had become available. As a whole Freud


feels that children should not be left in the dark about


sex and sexual feelings. He says “To My mind it seems


that certain things are altogether too much wrapped in


mystery.” By this he means that children should be


completely free to develop at there own pace. He says


that if children are not told this they will find other


ways of getting the information such as other children


or books. Also he states that it is improbable to think


that sexual desires will not develop in a child if the


are not stirred by any outside source.


Freud believes that children bring a certain amount


of sexual instinct in to the world with them when they


are born. He say, “It is commonly believed that the


sexual instinct is lacking in children, and only begins


to arise when the sexual organs mature.” Freud claims


that various parts of our body are “erotogenis zones”


and it is only after they develop that the genitals


become the supreme ones.


Freud sighted one example of how a child should be


treated in this area. A young boy by the name of Herbert


who has very intelligent parents. They never tried to


repress his development as a sexual being. What he began


to refer to his private part as his “wee-wee maker” his


parents never once told him that things like that were


not spoke of in public. They did this to show him that


sexual activity is not a bad thing.


Freud stated several times that one thing that


should never be done is to let your child think that sex


is a dirty thing. This will only cause the child to have


problems later in life that may be irreversible. He


sighted yet another example from his work that shows how


a person can be scared by things such as this. A

young


girl by the name of Lily wrote a letter to her Aunt Mali


on behalf of her and her playmates. Lily asked Aunt Mali


where babies came from. The girls had all sorts of


ideas, but they wanted to know the truth and Aunt Mali


was the only on they could turn to for such a question.


Freud highly doubts that Lily got the correct answer.


Lily later developed the neurosis that comes from


“unanswered unconscious questions-obsessive


speculating.” Freud said about this “… they whisper


confidences to each other which, because of the sense of


guilt in the childhood inquirers, stamp everything


sexual as horrible and disgusting”


Freud feels that sex should be treated just like


everything else in the world. It shouldn’t be kept from


children. He thinks that even in schools children should


be taught the different animals in the animal kingdom


reproduce. He says that a child would be much better


off if the were well guided on the subject and not just


let go to find what they will for the world. Most of


all I think he is saying that sex should not be kept a


secret.


In some cases I feel that Freud is right on with


his ideas. I also think that some of his ideas don’t hit


anywhere near the mark for the modern society we live in


today. For example, I believe that children shouldn’t


be left completely in the dark about things of a sexual


nature. All children develop at different speeds and


some might not be quite ready for this kind of


information if it was taught in school at a certain


grade level. I best way that I can see to deal with


this is for parents to love there children and never let


then think that the can’t ask then questions about


anything. The parents then have to be ready to answer


any question that the child might have.


I the case sighted above concerning the little


girl who wanted to know where babies come from, I think


that there is probably more to the story the what was


stated in the essay. I don’t believe that a child being


denied the facts about where babies come from would


cause her to develop such a disorder. I can’t be sure


about this because I do lack the amount of knowledge


that is required to diagnosis a person or ascertain how


the disorder was caused.


The story of the small boy who ran around all of


the time talking about his “wee-wee maker” struck me as


somewhat comical. I really don’t see any reason to let a


child run about say thingssuch as this. If a child isn’t


taught that decorum doesn’t permit certain things in


certain places then they will never learn.

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