hospital."
It is important that this person's abnormal conduct does not represent
in the child's mind the natural sex pattern.

Faith in love-making and faith in love partners must be held intact. Yet
there should be no discussion of love and no real sex teaching at this
critical time. Sex instruction is a post-convalescent therapy. It should
not be used as an immediate or first-aid remedy for fear it may become
associated with a most distressing memory. Above all, family
conversations and speculations should be abandoned, for children are
sensitive to talk they do not even hear. A child who has suffered a
premature sexual experience at the hands of an older person needs all
that his family can give him of thoughtful consideration and
reassurance. Yet he should by no means feel himself a hero. Once the
story is told and accredited, it should sink into a friendly silence.

Whatever form sex misconduct takes--whether peeping and undressing,
playing "father and mother," using vulgar words, making offensive
drawings or writing unsavory verses, urinating in public--punishment in
any of its many forms tends to decrease the quick chances of recovery.
Humiliation, body-guarding (I never can trust you alone), confinement
(lock you up), emotional scenes (you've disgraced your family), threats
(I'll send you away)--strike deep into the emotional nature of the child
and destroy that integrity of spirit and belief in himself which he
needs for his restoration. Persistent probings and grillings will also
block progress.

Correction of any type of sex misdemeanor requires insight, forbearance,
a vast amount of emotional poise, and an understanding of contributing
causes. If lack of wholesome sex knowledge is the cause, then wise sex
instruction _without_ reference to past sins is the remedy. If
fixations, jealousies, or a too strict moral code at home are
responsible (and they often are responsible not only for the more active
forms of misconduct, but for masturbation, thumb-sucking, and other bad
habits as well), then the cure rests with the willingness of parents to
modify their own attitude and exactions. If the cause is a recreational
lack, new activities, new scenes and companions, new interests must be
supplied to break up the old associations and supply the needed zest for
life. If observation of adult relationships has taken place, a careful
explanation and interpretation of the act of mating is necessary to lift
the relati