WHO: Children must learn to correctly name the parts of their body
According to the UN Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe, sexuality education should begin before the age of four. Children must learn to correctly name the parts of their body, that there are personal boundaries and social rules that must be respected ("you cannot touch whoever you want"). In this way, the child learns to become aware of and apply their own boundaries ("you can say no, you can ask for help") and, thus, sexuality education contributes to the prevention of sexual abuse, as it constitutes social education.
Very often, defense attorneys and, unfortunately, even the expert consultants of alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse, distort the above widely accepted scientific argument, targeting the ignorance of judicial officials on issues of child sexual abuse. Thus, in legal documents and reports, they characterize even 5- or 9-year-old children, who know the correct, medical, names of the genital organs, as "coached", because it is supposedly unheard of for them to be able to correctly name the parts of their body. In this way, they deliberately perpetuate ignorance and obscurantism, violate children's rights, and hinder the functioning of the Child Protection Authority.
In 2019, four educators from Rethymno were awarded the Excellence and Innovation Award for an educational sexuality education program, by the World Association for Sexual Health. They created an innovative sexuality education program for kindergarten and elementary school children, the aim of which is for children to learn about their body, using its real names (they learn to say not "little bee" or "birdie", but penis, testicles, vulva). The program is called "Playing with Frixos and learning about my body and human relationships".
As expected, the implementation of the program in schools, apart from the very positive reactions of parents, also brought reactions from some people, who filed accusations against three kindergarten teachers in Chania, because they informed the children about the correct name of the genital organs. When parents, or other adult caregivers, name genital organs with various names, euphemisms, other than their medical name, this only serves themselves, as they feel shame and thus stigmatize them. It is necessary, however, for parents to learn to name genital organs with their scientific names, just as with the rest of the body parts, and to communicate these to their children.
Bibliography / Sources
Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe
Federal Centre for Health Education and WHO Regional Office for Europe · 2023 · https://ich.gr
https://ich.gr/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BZgA_Standards_Greek.pdf
Excerpt from the WHO Standards:
1.3 Why should sexuality education start before the age of four?
In this document, sexuality education – as mentioned previously – is defined in a broad and holistic way and is based on understanding sexuality as a positive human potential. A child is considered to be a sexual being from the beginning of life, although a child's sexuality differs from that of an adult in many ways, for example in its expression, content, and goals.
In each age group and developmental stage, specific questions and behaviors arise (e.g. mutual discovery and exploration among peers – playing "doctor and nurse", enjoying showing parts of one's body and looking at the bodies of others, showing shame in front of others, etc.) to which we must respond in a pedagogical way.
Psychosexual development during childhood means the development of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social skills appropriate to the child's age. Refer to chapter 3.2 for a detailed description of children's psychosexual development.
According to this perspective, sexuality education goes beyond providing information related to reproduction and disease prevention. It supports the development of the child's senses and sense of body/body image, and at the same time, strengthens the child's self-confidence and contributes to the development of self-determination: the child will be empowered to behave responsibly toward themselves and others.
Education begins from the moment a child is born, initially – mainly – through non-verbal messages, and later these become increasingly verbal. Sexuality education is part of the child's general education and is always transmitted to the child, even if this does not happen consciously. The way parents manage their relationship with each other gives children a living example of how relationships work. Parents also serve as models for gender roles and the expression of emotions, sexuality, and tenderness. If parents choose not to talk about sexuality (for example, not to mention the sexual organs), they teach something about sexuality (in the chosen example, their silence may be interpreted as discomfort). The wider environment also affects a child's sexual socialization, for example other children in kindergarten or their curiosity about their own body or the bodies of others.
The subconscious or natural way of teaching and learning about sexuality can be complemented by an active way of teaching and informing. The benefit of this approach is the normalization of the topic of sexuality. The child's questions are answered in an age-appropriate way, and what the child perceives is that issues related to sexuality are positive and pleasant. Thus, the child can also develop a positive attitude toward their body and develop appropriate communication skills (for example, correctly naming body parts). At the same time, the child is taught that there are personal boundaries and social rules that must be respected (you cannot touch whoever you want). Even more important is that the child learns to become aware of and apply their own boundaries (you can say no, you can ask for help). In this sense, sexuality education is also social education and contributes to the prevention of sexual abuse.