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Expert Q & A

Top : Friendships : I walked in on my 12-year-old son and his male friend experimenting with each other. Should I be worried?

Preteenagers Today's Health Advisory Panel Answers:
I walked in on my 12-year-old son and his male friend experimenting with each other. Should I be worried?
By Chris Crutcher
Author
Licensed Child and Family Therapist
 		Chris Crutcher

Question:


I walked in on my 12-year-old son and his friend (12 and a male) experimenting with each other. Should I be worried? Is this normal?

Answer:


It's normal – under any circumstances. I don't know the statistics, but way more than half of kids have their first sexual experimentation with someone of the same sex, usually a friend. I should caution you also, if you're worried about your son being gay, that if he were, it would be even more important not to panic. As much as many people don't like to think it, it's a natural state for a small segment of our population, and it's even more important for those kids to not get bad feelings about sexuality. But like I said, it's not an indication of anything more than curiosity.

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