report a case which proves that when children are
inclined to sexual practices, they will find sufficient opportunity,
even in the absence of coeducation. This was the case of a boy of eight
and a girl of seven years, who stripped quite naked and got into bed
together; from the fact that spots of blood were found on the
bed-clothing, it appeared that very definite sexual malpractice had
taken place. The girl's sexual history was followed up for three years
after this. She showed herself much inclined to make sexual advances
towards adults, pressing herself up against them in a way which innocent
persons interpreted as manifesting the caressive inclinations of the
child.

Having given this illustrative case, I must not omit to state that
similar incidents may, of course, occur from time to time in connexion
with the coeducation of children. But we must avoid the error of
attributing to external chance-influences, such as coeducation,
occurrences which are dependent upon the very nature of human beings;
for such things happen whatever method of education be adopted.
Naturally, the difference between the sexes must not be ignored; but in
children the existence of sexual differentiation must not be incessantly
and anxiously emphasised. Brothers and sisters, when they have reached a
certain age, should certainly not be placed naked together in a bath.
But this is to be avoided, not for fear lest thereby sexual excitement
might result in the children, but because to do so would be in
opposition to the customs of our time, and it is precisely by such
contrasts with generally accepted customs, that the attention of
children is aroused. Further, we may approve of the fact that in
consequence of the movement for child-protection (_Kinderschutz_), the
misuse of children in various ways--in the theatre, for example--has
undergone a notable diminution. But in this matter also, the decisive
factor is not exclusively the interest of sexual morality, but rather
the rights of the children themselves. The same consideration applies,
in part, to an earlier movement. In France, in the year 1848, the
appearance of children on the stage was legally prohibited, one reason
alleged for this enactment being the moral dangers resulting from the
mixing of the sexes in such conditions, but reference was also made more
particularly to the need for the better protection of the physical and
mental powers of the children.[138]

I come now to the des