Self Knowledge and Guide to Sex Instruction: Vital Facts of Life for All AgesShannon, Thomas W. (Thomas Washington)
Philosophy
Self Knowledge and Guide to Sex Instruction: Vital Facts of Life for All Ages
Shannon, Thomas W. (Thomas Washington)
Sex; Sexual health
“=If a child, especially a boy, is not fully satisfied with the
information contained in these stories, and should ask for a more
detailed explanation of the child’s origin, how would you answer
him?=”--I would first try to decide whether the child is prompted by
natural or morbid curiosity. If the child is sincere, very bright and
inquisitive, you will have a very pleasant task and one that should
result in only good to the child. I would start with the plant and show
just how the two natures reach each other in the seed. Then I would
pass in my detailed explanation to the oyster and fish. I would call his
attention to the real visible examples of mating among the insects,
birds, and domestic animals. I would call his attention to the father
and mother of insects and birds as they build their cells and nests to
receive their eggs when laid. I would call attention to the fact that
food is stored up in the egg or cell for the young before and after it
is hatched. I would call his attention to the fact that among the
animals where the young is born alive, that the mother furnishes the
young with food before it is born. If the child has witnessed the mating
of the birds and domestic animals and this is explained to him in
detail, the necessity for a detailed discussion of human mating will be
avoided. The child could be informed that human mating is practically
the same.
If the child is prompted by morbid curiosity, the task is a more
difficult one, the ideal results are not so certain, but the above
method is the only one that can be safely followed.
=To be able to give sex and social purity truths effectively to children
and youths, what qualifications should parents and teachers have?=--They
should have tact or skill. It is possible to approach them in such a way
as to do great harm. This qualification comes to one as a result of
careful study of these subjects, the consciousness of personal
responsibility and a realization of the child’s need of being
safeguarded by a clear knowledge of the truth. (2) They should be able
to discard all words and phrases they learned from the ignorant on the
street and playground. They should be able to use a chaste, simple,
scientific sex vocabulary. (3) They should be free from all mental and
moral taint. No one can tell or willingly listen to a lascivious joke
and then be able to tell effectively a child of his origin, the
functions of his sexual system and his temptations and dangers in
connection with them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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