I asked Walters if you could get in legal trouble for giving your son a vibrator, and the answer is probably not. I thought it might be useful to get a legal expert on the record here, so I talked to Larry Walters, a First Amendment lawyer who serves as general counsel to the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for sexual expression as a human right. That is good parenting, if you ask me.īut I’m guessing that part of why you’re asking this question is because facilitating a teen’s sexual expression is taboo and may feel like a weird thing to do, given teens’ vulnerability to exploitation. By providing a vibrator, you are not merely being sex-positive you’re fostering efficiency. Just as you wouldn’t try to stop a fish from swimming or a bird from flying, so should you not attempt to impede a teenager from masturbating. Philosophically, I see nothing wrong with you buying your 13-year-old son a sex toy, as he will be masturbating anyway.
