use it has lost the spice of novelty.

If the child is accustomed to the sight of nudity in adults of his own
sex, he will see nothing peculiar in his own sexual organs and pubic
hairs when these develop. On the other hand, children brought up with
strict prudery and in complete ignorance of sexual matters, often
become greatly excited when their pubic hairs develop; they feel
ashamed and at the same time erotic. When they are not prepared, girls
become still more excited at the first appearance of menstruation, and
boys at their first seminal emission. The mystery which is made of
everything relating to sexual matters is not only a source of anxiety
to children, but also excites their curiosity and the first signs of
eroticism, so that they generally end by being instructed on the
subject by other depraved children, by observing copulation among
animals, or by obscene books, in a manner which is certainly not
favorable to healthy development. What is still worse is that the
child is generally instructed at the same time in masturbation,
prostitution, and sometimes even sexual perversion.

The so-called innocence, or naive ignorance, of an adolescent
possesses quite a peculiar charm of attraction for libertines of both
sexes, who find a refined erotic pleasure, a unique relish, in the
seduction of the innocent, in the role of "initiator in the sexual
art." Parents, unfortunately, seldom realize the evil consequences of
their passiveness, I will even say cowardice, in making use of
subterfuge, pretext and falsehood, to elude the naive questions of
their children concerning sexual matters. I will here quote the
opinion of an enlightened mother of a family, Madame Schmid-Jager, an
opinion with which I entirely agree:

"All mothers, or nearly all, bring up their daughters with a
view to matrimony. Can we pretend that they are properly
prepared for it? Alas! no; the most elementary knowledge which
should be possessed by the future wife and mother is neglected,
and for centuries our young girls have been married in more or
less complete ignorance of their natural functions and duties.
The slaves of routine will reply that it has always been so,
that the world has been none the worse for it, and that women
when once married have always learnt by personal experience all
that was necessary. No doubt they are sometimes taught to cook
and sew and to do household work, but they are tol