My sister asked me this...

[Gummy]

She is 10 years old and school had not yet taught sex ed.

so she asked this on the beach:
Why does his penis stand up?

I didn't know what to say...

[Gummy]

She is 10 years old and school had not yet taught sex ed.

so she asked this on the beach:
Why does his penis stand up?

I didn't know what to say...

[Trailscout]

Gummy,

I can understand your reluctance to answer right away, but if your family goes to nude beaches, she will need at least a simple answer, because she may see an erection from time to time. But there is more than one answer. A man can get an erection because he is playing volleyball and the motion of the game sometimes makes his penis feel good and it stands up. Men often get erections when they first wake up in the morning because that is how our bodies keep us from wetting the bed at night, we "turn off" the nerves that make us urinate and the nerves that cause erection are stimulated. Sometimes men have erections because they are thinking about sex, but I have had one just because I was on a date with a girl who was real sweet and I was happy. I wasn't thinking about sex at all. Sometimes when you first take off your clothes at a beach, you feel so free and happy that it happens. She should know that most nudists consider it bad manners for a man to walk around with an erection without trying to cover it up with a towel or jumping in the water or walking to somewhere private while waiting for the erection to go away. She should realize that most of the time erections happen to men by accident and it is nothing to be scared of in and of itself. If it seems like he is showing off and strutting around like a rooster, even as young as she is, she can probably tell the difference between "accident" and "on purpose".

If a man stares at her or stands too close for comfort, regardless of whether he has an erection, he is being rude and she should walk away and get closer to her parents or her group.

[Bob S.]

How about this answer:

Because sometimes blood pumps so fast that it enters the veins in the penis faster than it can leave them. And when that happens, the penis becomes bigger.

Bob S.

[Bob S.]

One more thing,

At 10 years old, your sister is more than old enough to have been talked to about sex and have quetsions answered honestly.

Waiting for school-taught sex-ed is not a good way for a child to learn about their sexual information. This is something that parents need to be teaching their children whenever the topic is brought up by the child. Honest, straight-forward, and age-appropriate answers are needed to help the child learn about the world.

Bob S.

Sex education should be started at home. I got none at home or at school and grew up quite ignorant of sexual matters and the body in general.

The parents need to have a serious talk with the girl if they are going to go to places where people are nude, because erections are going to happen at times, whether by accident or on purpose.

I had a boy ask me one time, "What's circumcision?" He wasn't my kid, and it wasn't my place to tell him. I did tell him to ask his dad. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif /infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif

[Gary Naturist]

When a child asks a question, adults sometimes provide more information than is necessary to satisfy him/her.

As we know, erections happen for a variety of reasons, some non-sexual. So in your situation, there was no need to provide an explanation related to sex.

You could have simply said: "That happens to guys sometimes." This may well have satisfied her, at least for the time being.

Gary

[Gummy]

She's satisfied.
I am still afraid though.
She is a curious kid /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Bob S.]

Just curious what she was told.

Also, don't get too worried with her. Just give her good honest answers to the questions she asks. In fact, what should happen when she asks is her parents or you also ask her questions such as why she wants to know.

These shouldn't just be simple Q&A sessions once in a while but discussions as well where all parties involved are talking about what's on their minds.

Bob S.