Recognizing and Responding to Young Children’s Sexual Behaviors in the Classroom

As an early childhood educator, Ms. Maria felt able to recognize and manage the difficult, but age-appropriate behaviors of the 3and 4-year-olds in her classroom. Kaleb often had trouble sitting still during circle time, and Annabelle was still crying at drop off. Janell had language delays but was progressing since the start of the year. Fortunately, Ms. Maria was equipped with the training and skill to manage these behaviors, and every day they were becoming less disruptive. However, there were some behaviors Ms. Maria was having trouble managing. During naptime, one afternoon, Ms. Maria noticed Emilio, a child with autism, laying down on his mat with his hand down his pants, apparently self-stimulating. Unsure what to do, Ms. Maria simply ignored Emilio’s behavior—but she wondered, “Is Emilio being sexually abused?” Another afternoon, she found Sophia and Michael, both age 4, in the bathroom. They had their pants down and were looking at one another and laughing. They looked up surprised when she came in. Another time, Juan was found trying to tongue kiss Angelique in the corner of the room. And then, Ellen (age 3.5) who has a hearing impairment, pointed to Tomas’s pants, and questioned Ms. Maria, “Me . . . penis?” Ms. Maria was shocked at Ellen’s use of this term and was not really sure how to answer her question. Finally, one of her male students would often sit on her lap during story time and touch her breasts while she was reading to him. Ms. Maria’s experience in the classroom is fairly typical. Many early childhood educators encounter children who exhibit sexual behavior and are not sure how to respond. Although they have had training in childhood development, sexual development is rarely given the attention it deserves. At the same time, early childhood education personnel often get