Chowringhee: Children should be taught to name private parts as early as preschool, doctors and teachers said at a workshop on child sexual abuse on Wednesday.

Ponder, Protect & Prevent, presented by RACSHA (Rise Against Child Sexual Harm and Abuse), in association with The Telegraph Young Metro at Rotary Sadan encouraged conversation with children of all ages to keep them safe and aware.

Parents and teachers must keep aside their embarrassment and fears and talk to their children, psychiatrist Jai Ranjan Ram said. "The key issue is embarrassment when talking about body parts. This must be addressed. Parents and teachers need to shed their inhibitions and make the conversation matter of fact. Not talking to children puts them in danger," he said.

Conversation with children about safety can begin as early as the first words, according to a RACSHA leaflet that was distributed among representatives of schools and NGOs at the workshop. "We begin by identifying body parts by their correct names rather than alternative colloquial short forms. Distortions are born out of our own embarrassment.... It is easy to ask a child to name ears, eyes, hands and legs but not bottom, penis, vagina or breast. Our discomfort will in turn teach children to be embarrassed about their private body parts," said the leaflet.

A young community worker shared that children often do not know the appropriate names for private parts or refrain from talking or even referring to them. Instead, they know the parts by slangs.

The director of Gems Akademia International School and a member of the panel, Hilda Peacock, underlined the need for children to be able to express their experiences.

"It is important to teach children early in life the vocabulary because most often they don't have the words to describe their experiences which I find is a dangerous trend. Even pre-school children must be taught to narrate their experiences," she said.

The mother of a four-year-old girl admitted that teaching a child body parts stops at the belly and resumes at the knee, both in school and at home.

Aban Confectioner, the head of the primary and junior sections of Modern High School for Girls and a member of the audience, pointed out that the matter needed to be handled in a sensitive manner.

"We are sure this needs to be addressed but it is an extremely sensitive issue. You have to understand, there are some things that cannot be openly acknowledged at a certain age. Things need to be done step by step...involving parents, school and students," Confectioner told Metro.

The director of Swayam, Anuradha Kapoor, talked about having a child protection policy in schools and involving parents in the process.

Paediatrician Shamik Ghosh said doctors need to be alert about change in the child's behaviour. Also on the panel were Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy board member Reena Sen and Praajak director Deep Purkayastha, Ratnaboli Ray, mental health rights activist, moderated the sessions.