Playing doctor

This article is about juvenile exploration. For a game of imaginative role-playing, see Make believe. For erotic activity amongst adults, see Sexual roleplay and Medical fetishism. For the 2014 German film, see Playing Doctor (film).

"Playing doctor" is a phrase used colloquially in the Western world to refer to children examining each other's genitals.^[1] It originates from children using the pretend roles of doctor and patient as a pretext for such an examination. However, whether or not such role-playing is involved, the phrase is used to refer to any similar examination.^[2][3][4]

Playing doctor is considered by most child psychologists to be a normal step in childhood development between the ages of approximately three and six years, so long as all parties are willing participants and relatively close in age.^[5] A study by American sexologist Alfred Kinsey published in the book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) found that 38.6% of all 10-year-old children practice heterosexual and homosexual doctor play.^[6] However, it can be a source of discomfort to parents to discover their children are engaging in such an activity.^[7] Parenting professionals often advise parents to view such a discovery as an opportunity to calmly teach their children about different sex characteristics, personal privacy, private parts, and respecting the privacy of other children.^[3]

Playing doctor is distinguished from child-on-child sexual abuse, because the latter is an overt and deliberate action directed at sexual stimulation, including orgasm, coercively or in a situation of difference of knowledge, as compared to non-coercive anatomical curiosity.^[8]

See also

• Child sexual abuse
• Child sexuality
• Genital play
• Make believe
• Role-playing § Amusement
• Sibling relationship § Among children

References

1. "Is Your Preschooler Playing Doctor?". FamilyEducation. Retrieved 4 September 2009. Excerpted from: Boyd, Keith M.; Osborn, Kevin (June 1997). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Parenting a Preschooler and Toddler, Too. USA: Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0-02-861733-6.
2. Pike, Lynn Blinn (January 2001). "Sexuality and Your Child: For Children Ages 3 to 7". University of Missouri Extension. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
3. Clayton, Victoria (6 August 2004). "Playing doctor: How to teach kids about inappropriate touch". Growing Up Healthy. NBC News. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
4. Heins, Marilyn (2004). "Sex Play: parenting strategies". ParentKidsRight. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
5. Sexual Development and Behavior in Children: Information for Parents and Caregivers (Report). American Psychological Association. 2009. doi:10.1037/e736972011-001.
6. Kinsey, Alfred Charles; Pomeroy, Wardell Baxter; Martin, Clyde Eugene (1998). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-33412-1.
7. "I Caught Them Playing Doctor!". FamilyEducation. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009. Excerpted from: Pantley, Elizabeth; Sears, William (June 1997). Perfect Parenting: The Dictionary of 1,000 Parenting Tips. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8092-2847-8.^{[page needed]}
8. Loseke, Donileen R.; Gelles, Richard J.; Cavanaugh, Mary M. (2005). Current Controversies on Family Violence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. ISBN 0-7619-2106-0.^{[page needed]}