OSLO, Norway, October 17, 2007 – An Oslo pre-school teacher, backed by child psychologists, has suggested that kindergarten children be encouraged to “express” their sexuality through “sex-play” and games, including dancing naked and masturbating, in pre-school and day-care centres.
 
The English language edition of Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper reports that Pia Friis, the respected operator of an Oslo kindergarten, told an interviewer that children should be able “to look at each other and examine each other's bodies. They can play doctor, play mother and father, dance naked and masturbate”.
 
“But their sexuality must also be socialized, so they are not, for example, allowed to masturbate while sitting and eating. Nor can they be allowed to pressure other children into doing things they don't want to,” Friis said.
 
Friis also faulted some staff of day-care centres and kindergartens who, she said, might react negatively to children expressing their sexuality. “When the personnel are uncertain, that passes on to the children, and it can be negative.”
 
Friis’ opinion was backed up by Norwegian child psychologist Thore Langfeldt, who said, “Children must learn about sexuality, otherwise things can go very wrong.”
 
“Children can't object to something they don't know about, and children can more easily and readily report assaults if they already are aware of their own sexuality.”
 
In the US earlier this year, a report published by the American Psychological Association (APA) warned against the early sexualizing of young girls, especially through media and marketing. The APA task force found that teachers and parents are among the influences in the over-sexualization of children and that girls often end by seeing themselves as sexual objects. The results can include increased risks of depression, eating disorders and low self-esteem.
 
Joseph D’Agostino of the Population Research Institute (PRI) wrote that the APA report did not go far enough in exploring the effects of radical feminism on teaching children to see themselves sexually. In a PRI weekly briefing, he wrote, “The politically correct view is that the sexualization of girls and feminism are opposing forces, but in fact they have gone hand-in-hand.” He wrote that feminism teaches girls that chastity is a form of “oppression”. 
 
“They have taught that there are no natural limits to sexuality,” he wrote. “Based on feminist principles, why shouldn’t little girls sexualize themselves? And why shouldn’t adult men and women view them as sexual if there is no such thing as unnatural sexuality?”
 
Others have made the connection with early sexualizing of children with child sexual abuse. Cathy Wing, of Media-Awareness, a non-profit educational organization for media literacy said that sexually explicit advertising or products aimed at pre-teens naturally leads to adults treating children as sexual beings ready for exploitation. Wing told the Toronto Sun, “Perhaps when we surround ourselves with sexualized images of young people we shouldn't be surprised that a segment of the society think that it is okay to have sex with children,”
 
The suggestion by Norwegian child experts follows a larger trend in many countries of the European Union to raise the level of sexual activity in every area of the culture.
 
In May 2006, the German government was blasted by dozens of human rights groups and experts in human trafficking for building new brothels and “sex huts” in time to service fans at the World Cup soccer tournament in Berlin. It was estimated that 40,000 women were added, with official approval, to the existing 400,000 who already plied Germany’s legal prostitution or “sex-trade”.
 
In July 2007, the German Ministry for Family Affairs was accused of “state-encouraged incest” when it issued a pair of education booklets encouraging parents to sexually massage their children as young as 1 to 3 years of age. One of the booklets recommended that fathers should “devote attention” to the sexual organs of young daughters and another suggested teaching children the movements of copulation.

Whats the world comming too. they are pretty open abou things over there arent they.

i am glad that we will be bringing up our kids in a nudist lifestyle ecause they get to see what the body looks like and have a better understanding of what happens to thier bodies during htings like puberty and all this in the comfort and saftey of thier own homes.

i think bringing that into preschools or any school is going to far. on the other hand teaching kids about sex is in a way a good thing as it lets them know whats right and wrong. maybe if kids new about sex than things like rape and molestation might decrease as the victims will know that its not right.

seeya micheal

Hey guys. well i do think it shouldnt be allowed in schools, if anything it should be within the home first... sometimes something of this nature can open up incidents for molestation to happen.. Here in my city within  the last few weeks, there have been three officials charged with sexual misconduct with a minor.. .. all who were involved lost their jobs and are awaiting a trial to see if they will go to prison or get probation, but they have lost their teachers licenses and are forbidden to teach in a classroom again.  If i had a child i would teach him or her about sex from my own home.

To let them go that young in a classroom.. nude and what have you would just be uncomfortable for me as a parent.  Now i am not saying the parent would be wrong if they allowed this to be in their childs classroom. If they comfortable with it that is definitely their choice.

I  do agree that something like this would possibly curb the incidents of molestation, or rape even, but if parents were more open with their childen about sex ..perhaps  there wouldnt be so much confusion or need to think about this in the classroom. This would give raise to the question.. how old should the child be before you discuss sex?  i think i would discuss it with them in the elementary years.. but what we should realize is that just because you are open with them and do discuss sex .. doesn't mean they will no longer be curious.. it is normal for children to be inquisitive about life, no matter what the subject.

i was 5 years old when i first saw the difference between boys and girls.. and for some reason didn't seem to care...My mother walked in on me and a cousin and she was furious... saying that little boys and girls should never see each other like that.. funny but i never saw that cousin again...lol We didnt play doctor or anything we were just mesmerized .. but for me anyway.. i really couldnt care less why we were different...

To put this in the classroom.... i dont think i would be comfortable with it... but then again if i think of the kind of person i am.. and how open and honest i am.. maybe it really wouldnt..

I have mixed feelings about this.  It sounds like that Norway could be moving into the realm of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" with this, where sexual anarchy is virtually the norm as well as medicating people with soma if they think outside of what the majority does.

In another way, I think it's a good thing because it teaches children to not be ashamed of their bodies or their looks, and to be able to say 'no' to anything that they don't want to do.  Teaching children shame about sex or sexuality provides the breeding ground for paedophilia in the first place in my honest opinion.

I also suggest that everyone on this forum ought to get a copy of the book "Harmful To Minors" by Jocelyn Elders and Judith Levine.  Very interesting reading about the development of sexuality in our young, but it does not encourage adult-child sexual interaction.