Call us: 480-794-1561
When stories of child sexual abuse hit the media and the victim is a teenager, or perhaps even a little younger, faulty underlying assumptions about the victim’s responsibility emerge. Many also jump to troubling conclusions when the victim is an adolescent or teenage boy.
Medical science has long recognized and documented in great detail how being struck on the buttocks can stimulate sexual feelings. Children are especially susceptible. The tragic consequence for many children who have been punished by paddling or spanking is that they form a connection between pain, humiliation and sexual arousal that endures for the rest of their lives.
We now know that teenagers often do not make the most responsible, reasoned decisions because this part of their brain is still developing. (Front line PBS) The basic part of the brain that gives teenagers strategies and perhaps warns them of potential consequences isn’t fully on board yet. This research reaffirms the importance of telling our children, in simple language, what is and is not acceptable behavior between siblings.