Understanding What is Normal & When to Be Concerned

Green Light: Natural & Expected

• Touches or rubs own genitals when diaper changed, going to sleep, tense, excited or afraid
• Touches private parts of "familiar adults and children
• Takes advantage of opportunity to look at nude people
• Asks about genitals, breasts, intercourse, and babies
• Erections, likes to be nude, shows others their genitals
• Interested in watching others go to the bathroom
• Uses "dirty" words for bathroom and sexual functions
• Interested in own feces
• Plays doctor, inspecting the bodies of others
• Puts something in genitals or rectum one time out of curiosity or exploration
• Plays house in the roles of mommy and daddy

Yellow Light: Of Concern

• Continues to rub/touch genitals in public after being told not to
• Continuous questions about genital differences, sexual behaviors, or body parts after all questions have been answered
• Touches private parts of adults not in the family, unknown child, or familiar people after being told "no," asked to be touched himself
• Stares at nude people after already having seen many people nude
• Continuous erections
• Wants to be nude in public after being told no consistently and repeatedly
• Continues to use dirty words after being told not to
• Smears feces on wall or floor more than one time
• Continues to play doctor even after being told not to
• Puts something in own or others genitals or rectum after being told not to
• Humping other children with no clothes on

Red Light: Seek Professional Help

• Touches/rubs self to the exclusion of normal childhood activities, hurts own genitals by touching or rubbing, wants to masturbate to nude pictures or displays them
• Plays male or female roles in an angry, sad, or aggressive manner, hates own/other sex
• Sneakily touches adults. Makes others allow their touching, demands that others touch them, demands to see others' privates
• Asks people to take of their clothes, tries to forcibly undress people
• Asks unfamiliar people sexual questions, sexual knowledge exceeds age appropriateness
• Painful erections
• Aggressive or fearful in demand for privacy
• Refuses to put on clothes, secretly shows self in public despite scolding
• Refuses to leave people alone in bathroom
• Displays fear or anger about birth, babies, or intercourse
• Continues to use dirty words despite scolding, talks about sex or sex acts habitually
• Repeatedly plays in feces after scolding
• Forces other child to play doctor, to take off clothes, forces others to play sexual games
• Any coercion, force, pain, in putting something in genitals or rectum of self of other child
• Simulated or real intercourse without clothes on, oral sex