In Victorian times the rigid suppression of children's sexual activities made sense, as adults were also constricted. Suppression of childhood eroticism makes less and less sense today. Now women know they are sexual beings with unsurpassed abilities and appetite. They expect a climax and hope for multiple orgasms. Now men realize that the loss of semen doesn't drain or debilitate.
They understand
that the more they use it, the longer it lasts, and that
flabby erections are likely due to trying too hard. Both men
and women see sex as a major enrichment. Yet most children
learn precious little about sex except what they pick up from
each other. Parents show them how not to like it. Unless
there are radical changes in our parenting, the next generation
will be set up for frustrations and failure, just as was the
last.
Latency sex play is intense. The thrust is toward physical
sensations rather than gaining knowledge or mastering anxiety.
The smell, sight, and touch of other naked bodies serve
as a powerful aphrodisiac. In general, sex games are played
by consenting, lusty youngsters who are intrigued and titillated.
Complicated formats are designed to ease the shame
and share the responsibility. Group enthusiasm makes sex
play hard to resist.
"Quiz show" is modeled after a famous television program.
Eleanor performs for a huge imaginary prize. A trip to
Europe, a sports car, or a million candy bars await her. Of
course, she knows it's all for fun, and the prize provides a
good excuse.
Her first assignment is to stand on her head and
make a face. Later she removes her panties and opens her
legs. For the grand prize she must act like a movie star and
clasp another contestant's small but erect penis between her
thighs.
Eleanor is scared and incredibly excited. She's free to
leave at any time, but somehow she stays until suppertime.
Variants of "spin the bottle" are still much in evidence.
Flipping coins or guessing numbers may be employed if bottles
are in short supply. A closet may afford privacy for the
payoff, and girls are at least as aggressive as boys. Sometimes
the kiss becomes a kind of coitus-an abbreviated version,
as others are waiting to spin.
"Truth, dare, and consequence" is a game played by
sophisticated youngsters who apply the concept of a contrac
tual agreement. If the child fails to tell the truth or complete
the dare as contracted, then the consequences are justified.
Dares are within reason, at least at first.
Larry selects "truth." Marge asks him to name the girl he
likes best. Although he names a pretty fifth-grader, no one
believes him and so he must pay the consequences. Larry
halfheartedly objects, but the majority rules. For his consequence,
he takes off his pants and dashes to a certain tree
and back. The tree is in full view of a highway.
With considerable
skill Larry dodges behind bushes while pulling his
undershirt down to cover his penis. On return he grins
broadly and dives for his pants. Leslie chooses a dare. She's
to bring back a flower from a nearby cemetery. She reappears
in a few minutes with a golden rod. Immediately apprehended
in her deception, her consequence is to demonstrate
a strip show.
"Truth, dare, and consequence" is played by moral children
who need a good excuse. They only agree to a nonsexual
task such as "truth" or "dare." When they inevitably fail to
tell the truth or complete a dare, they have a moral duty to
pay the consequences. As they don't decide the consequence
either, they have little responsibility in the whole matter.
They're acting as good kids should, along accepted guidelines.
These young innocents are of course enormously stimulated.
The truths and dares are soon dispensed with and
the game becomes a progression of touching, rubbing, and
often genital contact. Blended with the excitement is fear, for
if discovered, they must pay for their pleasure with intense
humiliation. The game ends when someone imagines a footstep
or when another recalls that his mother may be searching.