Children and Masturbation

Masturbation is a mix of self-abuse and self-pleasure for lonely and insecure older children. Due to parental negligence or poor upbringing, children craving for attention find solace in masturbation. To know how to deal with and prevent such behaviour in children, read on. In this articleIntroduction Masturbation in ToddlersWhat to do if your Toddler is Masturbating?Extreme Masturbation in Older Children is a Behavioural DisorderLack of Parental AttentionSexual Abuse by Family MembersLoneliness and Limited Social InteractionsHow to deal with Masturbation in an Older Child?Introduction Children masturbate for the same reason that adults do – it gives them pleasure. For parents, masturbation can be one of the most embarrassing aspects of raising children. Parents may struggle with emotional upheavals as they find it hard to believe that their innocent little child is indulging in such behaviour. More often than not, parents are privy to wrong or incomplete information regarding masturbation, owing to its taboo nature, and believe it to be harmful to the sexual development of the child. It is important to note that masturbation is a completely normal behavioural characteristic. It causes no harm to their physical or sexual development. It causes no harm to your child unless it is done to an extreme. Masturbation in Toddlers Toddlers are just developing. They have just begun to walk, run, skip, play, etc. Their minds are agile and curious. They look around the world with wide, inspective eyes; eager to know and learn all that they can about the world surrounding them. That makes many of them as curious about their genitals as they are about their fingers, your hair and nose, etc. When you start making your toddler wear underwear in place of diapers, many of them find access to their genitals for the first time. They may touch their private parts out of curiosity and realise that it feels good. Many toddlers may unknowingly masturbate themselves until they get an orgasm! Despite that, masturbation in toddlers is completely asexual as they are too young to understand what sex is. What to do if your Toddler is Masturbating? Masturbation is absolutely normal behaviour and has no physical or mental side-effects unless done excessively. Masturbation, so early in their lives, does not indicate that your children are obsessed with sex or are going to become sex maniacs in the future. If, however, your child has been taught that masturbation is bad, he will definitely fear being caught with his pants down and brought to shame. This fear could lead to an extreme state of anxiety that would require proper counselling and therapy. Studies have shown that parents would do well to ignore masturbation in very young kids. You are advised to not make a big deal out of your child’s tendency to masturbate as that would only serve to make him more conscious of what he is doing. It would also make him feel unnecessarily guilty of something that comes very naturally at that age. According to the dictionary, masturbation is self-abuse. And no very small child would indulge in self-abuse. If he is made to feel conscious that he is doing something very wrong, it would only make him more aware of it and then result in a need to derive pleasure in this way. But if this tendency is ignored, the child might grow out of it quite naturally and would not suffer from feelings of guilt. Extreme Masturbation in Older Children is a Behavioural Disorder In the case of an older child, if masturbation is taken to an extreme degree and the child tries to derive pleasure by stimulating his sexual organs excessively, it indicates a behavioural disorder that may lead to stunted sexual development and would interfere with his sexual life in the future. An older child may resort to excessive masturbation as a means of deriving self-pleasure if he has been mistreated or ignored. Reasons why an older child may resort to excessive masturbation are listed below: Lack of Parental Attention This kind of behavioural disorder generally affects those who come from broken homes and are totally neglected by their parents who have absolutely no time for them. These children are not only very insecure but crave any kind of attention or company. If they do not get it from others, they give it to themselves. And if it gives them pleasure, as masturbation most certainly does, it becomes a habit disorder and is most difficult to give up. The child tends to get entirely lost in this pleasure seeking activity and some even seem to enjoy it without any shame or fear. It is only after he is totally immersed in this activity and it begins to interfere with the rest of his life that it comes to the notice of his parents. And this is when the fear or anxiety syndrome starts. Sexual Abuse by Family Members In some cases it is poor housing facilities combined with inadequate sleeping arrangements that provide plenty of opportunity for child abuse. And in some it is the older child who seeks pleasure by defiling the innocence of the younger one. Or sometimes it could be a totally frustrated older relative who is starved for any kind of entertainment or pleasure seeking activity. Once the child is introduced to the stimulation of physical excitement it is very difficult for him to give it up and if he cannot get it from anyone else, he will give it to himself. But parents of the upper stratus of society must not relax their guard as you can find frustrated, deviant relatives anywhere. Nor should you leave your child totally in the care of the servants because you never know what they are up to behind your back. So once again it all comes back to parental negligence which is the root cause of all problems. Loneliness and Limited Social Interactions In a normal household, with the correct sort of upbringing, no healthy child would just take to this kind of disorder without any cause. It is only if he or she is very lonely and does not have friends or siblings to play with and no entertainment or pleasure seeking activity to participate in, do such problems arise. However, if parents spend quality time with the child and share a healthy rapport with the child, then it ensures that the child has good social interactions and participates in games and sports and other constructive activities. Thus he will find no compulsion or urge to derive pleasure from any such kinds of deviant behaviours. How to deal with Masturbation in an Older Child? Parents can reassure their child that they love him by spending time with him and making more of an effort to create a meaningful bond with him. Parents can also use diversion into other activities to make it a passing phase. They can encourage their child to participate in more social situations and teach him to interact with different people. Encourage your child to talk about his fears and hopes and dreams. Not only will this help cement your bond with your child, but will also ensure that your child will come to you in case of any form of abuse. Propagate your child’s self-esteem by showing him how proud you are of his small and big achievements. A healthier and cleaner self-image will mean more confidence and happiness which will slowly quell the need to gratify oneself and find pleasure from deviances such as Child Masturbation. Parents are also advised to take their child to see a child counsellor. When a child is brought into a child guidance clinic to deal with the problem of masturbating, the counsellor first tries to divert his mind away from the problem by suggesting rigorous physical exercises, sports and other fun activities in order to sublimate the instinctual pleasures by healthier physical activity. The counsellor then goes on to reassure the child that urge to masturbate excessively to derive pleasure is a passing phase and that there is a way out of it. In some cases the child is taught about sex to make him understand that it is not necessarily dirty if handled in the correct way at the right age. Then the counsellor tries to find out and eradicate the real cause of the behavioural disorder and helps the child to overcome the problem through long hours of therapy. Then it is for the parents to take it one step further and provide a healthy, loving and secure atmosphere for the child to bloom in. Does your child masturbate? How have you faced this issue as a parent? What are your opinions on a child who masturbates? Discuss here.

Masturbation is a mix of self-abuse and self-pleasure for lonely and insecure older children. Due to parental negligence or poor upbringing, children craving for attention find solace in masturbation. To know how to deal with and prevent such behaviour in children, read on.

Introduction

Children masturbate for the same reason that adults do – it gives them pleasure. For parents, masturbation can be one of the most embarrassing aspects of raising children. Parents may struggle with emotional upheavals as they find it hard to believe that their innocent little child is indulging in such behaviour. More often than not, parents are privy to wrong or incomplete information regarding masturbation, owing to its taboo nature, and believe it to be harmful to the sexual development of the child. It is important to note that masturbation is a completely normal behavioural characteristic. It causes no harm to their physical or sexual development. It causes no harm to your child unless it is done to an extreme.

Masturbation in Toddlers

Toddlers are just developing. They have just begun to walk, run, skip, play, etc. Their minds are agile and curious. They look around the world with wide, inspective eyes; eager to know and learn all that they can about the world surrounding them. That makes many of them as curious about their genitals as they are about their fingers, your hair and nose, etc. When you start making your toddler wear underwear in place of diapers, many of them find access to their genitals for the first time. They may touch their private parts out of curiosity and realise that it feels good. Many toddlers may unknowingly masturbate themselves until they get an orgasm! Despite that, masturbation in toddlers is completely asexual as they are too young to understand what sex is.

What to do if your Toddler is Masturbating?

Masturbation is absolutely normal behaviour and has no physical or mental side-effects unless done excessively. Masturbation, so early in their lives, does not indicate that your children are obsessed with sex or are going to become sex maniacs in the future. If, however, your child has been taught that masturbation is bad, he will definitely fear being caught with his pants down and brought to shame. This fear could lead to an extreme state of anxiety that would require proper counselling and therapy.

Studies have shown that parents would do well to ignore masturbation in very young kids. You are advised to not make a big deal out of your child’s tendency to masturbate as that would only serve to make him more conscious of what he is doing. It would also make him feel unnecessarily guilty of something that comes very naturally at that age. According to the dictionary, masturbation is self-abuse. And no very small child would indulge in self-abuse. If he is made to feel conscious that he is doing something very wrong, it would only make him more aware of it and then result in a need to derive pleasure in this way. But if this tendency is ignored, the child might grow out of it quite naturally and would not suffer from feelings of guilt.

Extreme Masturbation in Older Children is a Behavioural Disorder

In the case of an older child, if masturbation is taken to an extreme degree and the child tries to derive pleasure by stimulating his sexual organs excessively, it indicates a behavioural disorder that may lead to stunted sexual development and would interfere with his sexual life in the future. An older child may resort to excessive masturbation as a means of deriving self-pleasure if he has been mistreated or ignored. Reasons why an older child may resort to excessive masturbation are listed below:

Lack of Parental Attention

This kind of behavioural disorder generally affects those who come from broken homes and are totally neglected by their parents who have absolutely no time for them. These children are not only very insecure but crave any kind of attention or company. If they do not get it from others, they give it to themselves. And if it gives them pleasure, as masturbation most certainly does, it becomes a habit disorder and is most difficult to give up. The child tends to get entirely lost in this pleasure seeking activity and some even seem to enjoy it without any shame or fear. It is only after he is totally immersed in this activity and it begins to interfere with the rest of his life that it comes to the notice of his parents. And this is when the fear or anxiety syndrome starts.

Sexual Abuse by Family Members

In some cases it is poor housing facilities combined with inadequate sleeping arrangements that provide plenty of opportunity for child abuse. And in some it is the older child who seeks pleasure by defiling the innocence of the younger one. Or sometimes it could be a totally frustrated older relative who is starved for any kind of entertainment or pleasure seeking activity. Once the child is introduced to the stimulation of physical excitement it is very difficult for him to give it up and if he cannot get it from anyone else, he will give it to himself. But parents of the upper stratus of society must not relax their guard as you can find frustrated, deviant relatives anywhere. Nor should you leave your child totally in the care of the servants because you never know what they are up to behind your back. So once again it all comes back to parental negligence which is the root cause of all problems.

Loneliness and Limited Social Interactions

In a normal household, with the correct sort of upbringing, no healthy child would just take to this kind of disorder without any cause. It is only if he or she is very lonely and does not have friends or siblings to play with and no entertainment or pleasure seeking activity to participate in, do such problems arise. However, if parents spend quality time with the child and share a healthy rapport with the child, then it ensures that the child has good social interactions and participates in games and sports and other constructive activities. Thus he will find no compulsion or urge to derive pleasure from any such kinds of deviant behaviours.

How to deal with Masturbation in an Older Child?

Parents can reassure their child that they love him by spending time with him and making more of an effort to create a meaningful bond with him. Parents can also use diversion into other activities to make it a passing phase. They can encourage their child to participate in more social situations and teach him to interact with different people. Encourage your child to talk about his fears and hopes and dreams. Not only will this help cement your bond with your child, but will also ensure that your child will come to you in case of any form of abuse. Propagate your child’s self-esteem by showing him how proud you are of his small and big achievements. A healthier and cleaner self-image will mean more confidence and happiness which will slowly quell the need to gratify oneself and find pleasure from deviances such as Child Masturbation.

Parents are also advised to take their child to see a child counsellor. When a child is brought into a child guidance clinic to deal with the problem of masturbating, the counsellor first tries to divert his mind away from the problem by suggesting rigorous physical exercises, sports and other fun activities in order to sublimate the instinctual pleasures by healthier physical activity. The counsellor then goes on to reassure the child that urge to masturbate excessively to derive pleasure is a passing phase and that there is a way out of it. In some cases the child is taught about sex to make him understand that it is not necessarily dirty if handled in the correct way at the right age. Then the counsellor tries to find out and eradicate the real cause of the behavioural disorder and helps the child to overcome the problem through long hours of therapy. Then it is for the parents to take it one step further and provide a healthy, loving and secure atmosphere for the child to bloom in.

Does your child masturbate? How have you faced this issue as a parent? What are your opinions on a child who masturbates? Discuss here.