Sex Education in Early Childhood

Assumptions, Expectations and Roles
Freud’s influence began in Europe in the early 20th century. Europe, especially in the region of Germany, was changing dramatically. WWI was brewing as a result of Germany’s rise to power at the end of the 19th century. England, France and Russia felt threatened by Germany’s resurgence. At the same time, the Romantic era was coming to an end, and the modern era was fast approaching—an era in which the Old World characteristics were completely rejected. This occurred, for instance, in Russia with the Bolshevik Revolution (Fitzgerald, 2000). The same revolution was threatening to overthrow the German government during the Weimar Republic. The rise of Hitler in Germany was a direct response to the spread of Communist ideals, which were in direct opposition to the old world values that Hitler wanted to restore to Germany follow the country’s defeat in WWI (Paxton, 2005). For all of these reasons, there was a great deal of tension and oppression, suspicion and unease in European society. Progressive ideals were also coming into the fore. In the U.S. women had obtained the right to vote and equality was still a major issue. In short, the political climate, social expectations and roles in society were in dramatic flux. The old world values (duty and place) were giving way to modern values (liberty and equality). Against this background, the ideas of Freud and psychoanalysis began to be felt in all spheres of life.
Men and Women
Family. Men were the traditional bread winners and heads of the family. They went into the world to earn a living for the family. Women stayed home and were domesticated. They raised the children, kept house, and prepared the dinner.
Community. Men led in the community. They chaired organizations and led governments. Women had their own organizations, too—but they were not seen as equals in leadership.
Society. Men and women were viewed as having distinct roles and talents. These were largely in accord with old world customs. However, between the wars, a monumental shift occurred and by the 1940s, women were entering the workforce in droves largely to support the war effort.
Children and Childhood
Family. Children were still viewed as the purpose of family life, according to traditional customs. Men and women married to have and raise children. They were the most important part of family life.
Community. Children were expected to mind their elders and do as they were told. This meant in some cases going to school and in other cases working to support the family. The pre- and post-war years were hard for everyone, especially in Germany, so children were expected to pitch in however they could.
Society. The role of the child in society was to study and work hard and prepare to be an adult. Society expected children to be well-behaved. Children also had their own organizations, led by adults during the rise of the Third Reich, as the government saw it very important that the youth be trained civically.
Play
Family. For the family, recreation was important. This was before the time of television, so recreation focused on outings or on having friends over to the house. Reading and music along with sport were the main forms of recreation for the family.
Community. Community theaters existed along with community orchestras for individuals who wanted to recreate by acting or making music. There were dances and other forms of recreation as well. Recreating as a community gave people a sense of play and community.
Society. Play and recreation were somewhat corrupted in terms of concepts during the Weimar Republic, as Berlin became vice capital of the world in Germany. Cabarets cropped up everywhere and as the nation went into hyperinflation, despair set in and immorality rose (Goebbels, 1928; Gordon, 2006). The Third Reich attempted to reform the morals of the nation by re-instituting the concept of community recreation and the importance of sport.
Education
Family. Education was important for the family but not always possible between the wars. Prior to WWI, it was more likely to be had—but immediately after, less so. Not until the rise of the Third Reich was it again possible to any degree.
Community. Education was important for the community. Schools and colleges were esteemed and sought after. Workers were either expected to be apprenticed or to have a formal education to advance to higher levels of society.
Society. Education played a role in various fields, such as engineering, science, economics and so on. In order to gain a position in these fields, one needed to be educated. No country could excel without a focus on education—and that is what Germany did.
Inclusion
Family. Germany at this time was somewhat inclusive of all families. Jews were still primarily restricted to the ghetto, but they had also risen in some circles during the Weimar Republic.
Community. The community overall embraced everyone prior to the rise of the Third Reich in 1933. The community assumed that every family had a place and role in society (Paxton, 2006).
Society. Once Hitler came to power, inclusion was ended. Politics and social issues were enough to see certain people and families cast out of their positions in society.
Role of the State
Family. For the family, the state was like the father figure. It guided families. During the Weimar Republic, the state was not a very good father. The Third Reich tried to amend the situation, but war resulted.
Community. The state shaped the community by issuing standards and guidelines. The Weimar Republic let the communities of Germany go to seed. The Third Reich attempted to put them back to work and be industrious.
Society. The state was viewed as the guardian of society. Its leaders had to effect good policies, or the society would suffer (Paxton, 2006).
Role of the Religion
Family. Religion was important for most families. Germany was divided mainly between Roman Catholic and Protestant families. Jewish families also existed in Germany, but they were less welcomed under the Third Reich.
Community. Religion played an important role in society. Hitler’s swastika for example was a hooked cross—a Christian image. Religion was considered a foundation of the community’s moral formation.
Society. Religion had deep roots in Germany. The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne had ruled Germany in 800 and since then the Germans took pride in their religion. The Protestant Reformation divided the country for a time but Bismarck unified Germany once more.
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud developed the idea of the Id, Ego and Supergo. He helped to move society in Germany away from the old world values and more towards modern values. He stated that “religion, morality, and a social sense…were acquired phylogenetically out of the father-complex: religion and moral restraint through the process of mastering the Oedipus complex itself, and social feeling through the necessity for overcoming the rivalry that then remained between the members of the younger generation.” (Pederson, 2008, p. 33-34). His impact on early childhood education was considerable. As Bloch (1992) states, “Freudian and other behavioral theories supported the importance of early individual and personality development in children” (p. 13). Freud set the stage for behavioral scientists who worked to find ways to develop the personality. Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays became the father of modern advertising in the U.S. and used his uncle’s views on the Id, Ego, and Superego to plant desires in ads (Jones, 2000). In terms of education, the influence of psychoanalysis on early childhood education focused on giving more freedom of expression to children—i.e., liberalizing the classroom and moving its ordered structure away from traditional concepts to less restrictive ones in which children could be freed from repressive conditions.
Modernism and the Influence of Psychoanalysis on Early Childhood Education: Sex Ed in Elementary School
The rise of the sex education movement in North America has raised questions about the extent to which sex ed should be taught in early childhood education. From the standpoint of Freudian psychoanalysis, sex is a manifestation of the subconscious: it is sexual energy that serves as the motivation of human behavior. Identifying this in early education, from the Freudian perspective, would be healthy. After all, for Freud, the childhood was the starting point of all psychoanalysis. It was in childhood that the individual begins to develop sexual feelings for the parent. The famous idea of the Oedipal complex focuses on the incestuous longing of the son for the mother, which, of course, is forbidden—thus it is repressed into the unconscious. By bringing sex ed into early childhood education, this type of situation could possibly be avoided and the child’s personality could develop more healthily. PBS (2015) recently published an episode entitled “The Case for Starting Sex Education in Kindergarten.” The episode showed that the topic is still very much a controversial one because many families even today still hold on to conservative, traditional beliefs about sex. However, with the media promoting sexual liberation and gender ideology, sex ed is again front and center of the social debate. In Ontario, the landmark is the updated Health and Physical Education Curriculum, which includes sexual education beginning at Grade 1.
The Impact of the Event
Early learning programs in Ontario now must teach sex ed to students from Grade 1 and up. By Grade 3 they are learning about physical and emotional relationships. By Grade 4 they are learning about puberty (Sex Education in Ontario, 2018). The subject of sex used to be something that was reserved for private talks and not discussed frankly in schools. The Chronosystem reveals, however, how society has become more liberalized over the years. The ideas of Freud spread into the West via the behavioral sciences and the fact that Germany lost WWII, so the liberalizing influences that the Third Reich opposed were essentially given free reign. The religious aspect of the culture become more subdued in the West, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. The exosystem began to deteriorate as economies hit hard times and the wealth gap began to grow. The mass media helped to spread ideas about sex and sexuality to make the motive identified by Freud as more acceptable to speak about in public. The microsystem absorbed these changes: churches became more liberalized. The Catholic Church transformed itself in the 1960s under the Second Vatican Council. Today sex is more accepted, sexual relationships are tolerated more, and what was once considered sexual deviance is now considered normal and acceptable. Thus, sex ed is now having a more prominent place in early childhood education—and Freud played a part in setting that stage for it.
Conclusion
Freud helped introduce the West to the idea of sex being the basic motivating factor in human experience. This idea conflicted with the old world values—but WWII helped put an end to old world values. Ideas like Freud’s became more freely embraced as the old guard was finally defeated in Germany. Today, young students are learning about sex just as they would about math and spelling.

References
Bloch, M. N. (1992). Critical perspectives on the historical relationship between child
development and early childhood education research. Reconceptualizing the early childhood curriculum: Beginning the dialogue, 3-20.
Fitzgerald, S. (2000). Everyday Stalinism. UK: Oxford University Press.
Goebbels, J. (1928). Around the Gedachtniskirche. Germany History Docs. Retrieved
from http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=3860
Gordon, M. (2006). The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber:
Weimar Berlin’s Priestess of Debauchery. LA: Feral House.
Jones, E. M. (2000). Libido dominandi: Sexual liberation and political control. South
Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press.
Paxton, R. (2005). Anatomy of Fascism. NY: Vintage.
Pederson, T. (2018). Economics of Libido. New York, NY: Routledge.
PBS. (2015). The Case for Starting Sex Education in Kindergarten. Retrieved from
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/spring-fever
Sex Education in Ontario. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.ontario.ca/page/sex-education-ontario