On the Possible Prevention of Sexual Problems in Adolescence

The author contends that a primary cause of sexual problems is failure to teach children about sex before they reach adolescence. Physical and mental growth are nurtured and supported throughout infancy and childhood, while sexual development is stifled or distorted. As a result children reach adolescence with their natural eroticism maimed. The author pleads for a basic change in the attitudes of adults, so that parents will begin to teach their children about sexuality. By adolescence children should be prepared to understand and accept their capacity for sexual expression and be fully aware of when and how it might or might not be appropriate.