Till recently it was believed that children had no sexual feelings until puberty. This mistaken notion had led people to assume that children were non-sexual entities and prevented the parents and elders from educating children properly in matters of sex. In fact, the foundations of adult sexuality are largely built during early childhood.
Children become interested in the intimacy they observe between their parents.
They want to know what happens in the parents bedroom. However, direct observation of parental sex upsets children. They are unable to understand what they see and often conclude that sex is a form of a violent struggle. Children s attitudes to sex are influenced by the environment at home. Parental disapproval is absorbed into the child s personality and becomes an internal watchdog, a type of conscience.