"Playing doctor" is a phrase used colloquially in the Western world to refer to children examining each other's genitals.[1] It originates from children using the pretend roles of doctor and patient as a pretext for such an examination. However, whether or not such role-playing is involved, the phrase is used to refer to any similar examination.[2][3][4]
Playing doctor is distinguished from child-on-child sexual abuse because the latter is an overt and deliberate action directed at sexual stimulation, including orgasm, as compared to anatomical curiosity.[5] Playing doctor is considered by most child psychologists to be a normal step in childhood development between the ages of approximately three and six years, so long as all parties are willing participants and relatively close in age.[6] However, it can be a source of discomfort to parents to discover their children are engaging in such an activity.[7] Parenting professionals often advise parents to view such a discovery as an opportunity to calmly teach their children about the differences between the sexes, personal privacy, and respecting the privacy of other children.[3]
A study by American sexologist Alfred Kinsey published in the book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) found that 38.6% of all 10-year-old children practice heterosexual and homosexual doctor play.[8]
^Sexual Development and Behavior in Children: Information for Parents and Caregivers (Report). American Psychological Association. 2009. doi:10.1037/e736972011-001.
^Kinsey, Alfred Charles; Pomeroy, Wardell Baxter; Martin, Clyde Eugene (1998). Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Indiana University Press. ISBN978-0-253-33412-1.