Scheyer was adopted, to the effect "that this Congress considers that
the question of the school taking part in the work of sexual
enlightenment is one which it would at present be premature to
discuss."

Those who are inclined to assume to-day that we have left the older
authorities far in the rear, would do well sometimes to study the works
they despise. Basedow in his _Elementarbuch fuer die Jugend und fuer ihre
Lehrer und Freunde_ (_Handbook for Young Persons, their Teachers, and
their Friends_), gives some ideas as to how a mother may best enlighten
her children regarding sex-differences. Looking at a chest of drawers,
one of the children says to the mother that the purpose of clothing is
to protect the body from cold and heat, and to cover the private parts.
The mother replies that the last-named use of clothing is indeed very
important, and that it is very naughty to allow these parts of the body
to be seen, unless in cases of the greatest need. But the child goes on
to say that an additional use of clothing is to help us to know one
person from another, and to distinguish the female sex from the male;
and her little brother remarks that he knows of no difference between
the sexes other than that shown by the clothing: "If I were dressed like
my sister, I should be a girl." "No, no, my child," answers the mother,
"as time goes on, a girl's form becomes very different from that of a
young man. In men, a beard grows; but not in women. Men cannot give
birth to a child, nor can they suckle a child; they can only procreate
children, or become fathers. For this reason, even from the time they
are born, their bodies are different from those of little girls. And not
only are their bodies different; their inclinations are different also;
&c. &c." Although we may be disinclined to accept everything that
Basedow and other early educationalists have said about such matters,
none the less, in these old writings the modern educationalist will find
much that is suggestive.

Of late years, now that the school physician has gained a higher
position, the suggestion is sometimes made that it is by him that the
sexual enlightenment may best be undertaken. As far as children of a
fair age are concerned, and in the matter of imparting warnings against
the dangers of venereal infection, I share this view. But as regards
enlightenment as to the personal sexual life in the case of a child of
thirteen or so, I am compelled to differ. My