The first time I saw a little boy pull out his penis in class, I was horrified! What should I do? I definitely wasn’t prepared for this in teacher’s college! Now I know – it’s something little boys sometimes do and it doesn’t need to be a big deal.

First, I go over to the little boy and quietly and firmly, with my best stern teacher face, tell him to put it away. It’s best if nobody else hears this because sometimes they are hoping to draw attention to themselves.

Next, at the first available opportunity when nobody else is around, the little boy and I have the talk about how nothing that your bathing suit covers should be uncovered in class or in public. I explain that this is for his own safety. I maintain my serious teacher face and serious teacher voice throughout the talk.

Finally, I contact the parent to let them know about the incident in class and that we had a talk. I keep this part light and smile to let the parent know that this isn’t a big deal and that it happens often enough. If this is their oldest or only child, I make sure to do it in private, without the child around and to reassure them that this is very normal. If this is their 5th child, we laugh about it together!

I had difficulty choosing a picture to go with this post…