[amySlater]

:( I am really new to this site but I just read something that made me nuts. A parent referred to his or her son's penis as a thingy and was quite relieved to find out that "doing wierd things" aka masturbating did not guarantee that the five year old would grow up to be a pervert. My God there is old fashioned and then there is dangerously backward. If a parent can't even stand to call a penis a penis or a vagina a vagina without giving them little cutesy names how can they possibly teach their children about their bodies. It is my feeling that it is this type of parenting that leads to children who learn about their bodies from someone else, someone like a drunken distant relative or an extremely horny and uncaring boy or girlfriend. Sex education is more important than ever these days and that includes honest discussions without the sugar coating. These kids today need to know how to set boundaries and say no. They need to know that it is wrong for someone to touch them in ways that make them uncomfortable, How can we ever protect our children if we can't even bring ourselves to educate them.
Amy

[labman]

Good point. Worse yet, I have seen ''thingy'' in answers by people passing themselves off as experts here and other similar sites. I hope everybody realizes that anybody can give any answer they please on most of these sites, no matter how clueless they are about the subject. All the more knowledgeable people can do is post well written answers and hope people recognize good info when they see it. Unfortunately I have seen too many good people quit rather than share the board with idiots.