Do you teach your child the proper terms for genitalia (penis/vagina)?

As a social worker, I recommend anatomically correct names for body parts as form of safety for children. In addition to learning about their private square(private areas on their body), safe/ unsafe touch, and the importance of not keeping secrets. This is how we can help keep our children safe.

Yes. Bodies are bodies and teaching correct terminology is important for safety. My husband was also uncomfortable at first but our child’s safety is more important than my husband’s comfort.

Well... penis is better than her saying dick lol

Calling them anything other than their actual names makes me feel uncomfortable

Yes but my husband made a joke about a “weehaw” once and they thought it was the funniest thing so they say that now instead of penis 🤦‍♀️

yes. it’s hard because i’m also having to teach myself that it’s okay to say them. it makes me uncomfortable but i’d rather deal with the discomfort myself than put that on my child.

Yes, they need to know this to be able to communicate any inappropriate behaviour

My son (4 years old) uses "pecker" thanks to his dad lol but we haven't formally talked about what girls have. I believe in using the correct terms but I feel weird about it at the same time

Wait until he has to show the boy how to hold his penis and aim 😆

I can understand but it’s good to teach kids the actual terms to things. Has a mom who had to deal with CPS, it’s recommended.

As someone who works in pediatric healthcare, I absolutely recommend using anatomically correct terms. It's a safety issue. Body parts should never be made to be an uncomfortable topic. We have used the correct terms for both of our boys from infancy.

I teach them to say a private part and it’s clear for them what I mean so I don’t use penis/vagina but planned to get them know the names when they’re little bit older

If your kids grow up knowing the correct names, they won’t feel uncomfortable about it the way he does. Isn’t that something he would want? The issues with safety aside as others have mentioned.

A young kid doesn’t think anything of it when you teach them penis or vulva or breast. You might as well be saying elbow or neck if you’re just teaching it to them the same way you teach any other body part.

Can he explain why it makes him uncomfortable?
It's a scientific name like an arm or a leg.

We teach vagina and willy/penis to my sons.

Although willy isn't scientific, it's widely used enough in UK for everyone to know what he means if he's hurt it or is communicating something about it.

We will absolutely be teaching our children the correct terms.
Worst thing that could come of it is a repeat of that one scene from Kindergarten Cop. 😂

I see zero downside to this. I don’t know why you wouldn’t?

Made it so much easier to have the sex talk because we used their scientific names.

I use correct names for everything. When my daughter says vagina I have to try really hard not to laugh lol it sounds so funny when she says it

I’ve taught my daughter the proper names however I can understand where your husband comes from- I felt uncomfortable about it too but the more you do it the less weird it feels. I felt it was important for safety so got on with it.

My grandma/ aunts think I’m weird for telling my girls the proper names because I don’t want something to happen, god forbid, and she tells her teacher or me “someone touched my cookie” … no not happening because majority of school staff would not think twice and brush it off. Normalize telling them the proper names, it’s not profanity or bad it’s the medical term and simply what they are. There’s nothing wrong with it IMO.

I don’t understand the “body parts shouldn’t be made uncomfortable to talk about” argument. Like ofc I agree, but I think the safety issue has more to do with your attitude about it than the actual vocabulary.

A child can feel just as uncomfortable speaking about penises and vaginas as about privates. If your tone lowers, your disposition changes, you make it seem like you’re talking about something you’re not supposed to, then they will pick up on that, even if you’re saying “penis” 🙄

My daughter has absolutely no issue speaking about “girl and boy privates” bc my tone doesn’t change or lower when discussing it.
It’s more polite and discreet to say privates than vagina, especially in public like at the park. I don’t see an issue with my child confidently able to articulate, “Mama my privates are itchy.” Or whatever.

I do, but mostly because my kids are both in the “what’s that” phase and for safety reasons (both medical and stranger danger). I need to know exactly what’s going on and a 3 year old and almost 2 year old already can’t fully articulate at times.

Just something funny: sometimes my daughter calls the vagina the “little booty” 😂😂

I don’t see why people get so weirded out over their kids calling them penis and vagina like that’s literally what they’re called🤣 it’s about helping keep our children safe growing up

Yeah we do! If an arm is an arm, a leg is a leg, a vagina is a vagina, just another area of her body 🤷🏻‍♀️ a nickname just introduces the idea that those areas are shameful or we shouldn’t speak about them

We won't use any pet names or the name privates. We are all human, we all have parts and there is no need to be embarrassed about a literal human thing. My husband and I use the correct terms with our son and there is no embarrassment and we will do the same whether we have a son or daughter. Their safety matters more to us and me then someone's embarrassment or discomfort 🤷🏼‍♀️ if someone is offended because my child in the future uses correct terms that's a them problem. It's not a curse word, taboo or evil and people need to stop treating it like it is

Willy, ballies, bum crack, vag

As someone who’s lived through SA, and my mom always having called my vagina a “bird” - I’ve taught my kids to always refer to their parts as a vagina or a penis. We aren’t doing “cutesy” names for them.
I’m in my 30s and absolutely despise ever having been told my vagina had a name, other than what it is.

The only time it’s appropriate, in my opinion, is if there’s a male teacher and a girl is uncomfortable asking him to go to the bathroom or ask the office for a pad/tampon because she started her period for the first time and has nothing. (Ex: I was in grade 6, had a male teacher for remainder of the year, and asked if I could go to the office for a “cookie”. MOST of our male teachers knew what this meant, so they couldn’t refuse, as easily).

Might not be a popular opinion, but if a child uses the correct term and a stranger says they have an issue with that… that person would be a red flag to me. Because why are they as a stranger coming up to another stranger AND their child whom they will never see again, and saying they have an issue with human anatomy. To me thats a complete red flag when people want made up names to be used because it makes me wonder why are they so concerned

I only say penis or vagina- my mum thinks I should cutesy it up as it’s crass but I don’t agree.

We use "bottom" for the front and "butt" or "booty" for the butt. I don't want to do a cutesy name but I also wasnt ready to teach the actual name either. Most people would understand a child saying "my bottom hurts" and can proceed with questions like "where". Even if they dont know my specific system at home for the words, they would still understand generally.

It's ironic really, the words make him uncomfortable probably because they were never used/normalised in his childhood.

I think they should know the proper words so nothing gets misconstrued and in the event someone touches them inappropriately they can vocalize it. No one can dismiss it.

It was super uncomfortable in the beginning to teach my son the proper terms only because I wasn't taught with the proper terms as a child. But its sooo important that they know the correct terms should anything happen. There was an article I read somewhere that said that interviewed child predators have stated they typically steered clear of kids that knew the terms because it meant they were more likely to get caught. Ill do anything to help keep my kids safer in this sick world

it’s very important imo to teach children the proper terminology, especially if they were to find themselves in a predatory situation

When people say vagina do they actually mean vagina or do they mean the external genitalia which is the vulva? It's like calling the penis the urethra. Surely if we are teaching our children the correct names for their body parts it should actually be correct?

We say “foof” “willy” “bum”

My 3.5yo girl knows fanny/vagina and willy/penis.

You absolutely should! I can see the 'awkwardness' BUT in my li e of work I have had several safeguarding training days and sexual abuse cases have been missed because of improper words being used. i.e
"An uncle touched my cookie"
Bad example but you can see how it could pan out.