By formative years, I refer to the child when it is born till it reaches adolescence. What it experiences in this period has enormous ramifications through its life. It is in this period of time, that the child is actively learning to understand and interact with its surroundings. It is also experiencing the profound feelings related to its important relationships like mother and father. By nature, and especially due to the protection provided by mother/father, this is the period of a child in which it is expected not to have any exposure to any negative/abusive experiences. I cannot stress this point enough - it is tremendously significant! I would like to point it out that, when the anatomy of human body and carnal knowledge is imparted to an individual, it stays with him/her life long and cannot be shaken off easily . It is such a dominant factor through out one's life that if channelled in the wrong way in an individual especially during the formative years, it will prove to be very disruptive and unsettling and can cause long term psychological damage and can make his/her life miserable. It is crucially important that this (approx.) 12-14 years learning window without crude carnal knowledge/experiences is available to every children in their formative years. Hence the society should tighten up the necessary laws to act as deterrent and to protect the formative years of every children. If a country wants admirable top-class citizens, it should provide the right protection to all the children in their formative years.
I like the statement which goes - 'Since God cannot be present everywhere, he created parents to support him to protect the children !'. Protecting the children from unwanted experiences should be at the top of the minds of parents. By unwanted experiences, besides any physical injury/trauma, I also mean the mental shocks/trauma that can come from exposures to certain events, electronic media, unpleasant behaviours of family members and those living close-by etc., The most damaging of all is the sexual abuse, a child may face if not protected properly. It is in this formative years that lot of brain development (synaptogenesis) leading to memory formation, learning, adaptation etc., happens, Ideally this is the time, when the child should be taught about the desirable value systems and strengthen his/her character that will become a bedrock of his personality during his entire life.
Thus the transition from being child to adolescence to adults should be carefully guided. Even the formal sex education including physical anatomy should be taught by the right experts at the right time to these adolescents, preferably in the school setting itself. At this time I am unable to avoid the thought as- how our electronic media - TV, mobiles, tabs and computers is imparting undesirable knowledge with utmost ease to the unsuspecting minds. This is not only creating learning obstructions but also is damaging to the children in long run. Protecting the child is not just the responsibility of parents but also the responsibility of the society, since the child interacts in so many environments besides home. Just imagine the picture of a boy in the bubble - that bubble is akin to the protection received by the children from the society and the parents from the unwanted experiences till it crosses adolescence. This bubble should only be removed carefully after the child gets the necessary knowledge to handle what is to come - especially so when they begin to understand what sex is about.
Also, besides the parents, the most interactions that a child receive in its formative years is perhaps with the teachers (besides friends). Hence I cannot stress enough how important the profession of a teacher is during the formative years of a child. These teachers should not only be the subject matter experts but also should be well versed in child psychology and social psychology. They need sharp intellect to observe the children in the whole context surrounding the children, and carefully impart the right knowledge (need not always be related to subject matters but also about value systems), and counselling at the right time and guide them towards becoming adult. They should also pay extra attention to the language skills at this time since I think communication skills are vital and should be taught in early years with great care. I would recommend a pedagogical degree for these teachers from a university that specializes in the development of children in the right way to enable them to become the ideal citizen of the country. Thus the profession of teaching, because of the significant value add that it imparts to the society, should be one of the top paying professions.
If the experience of feeling love and being loved is revealed to the young people as devised by the divine and properly guided by the society by the proper implementation of the value systems, they may tend to experience what I call as the 'magic-carpet' experience. Unpolluted by unworthy media related exposures and mentally and physically draining traumas, just at the right time in the adolescence, if a guy or a girl fall in love for the first time, they may feel one of the strongest of the naturally blessed euphoric state. It may seem to the guy/girl that they cannot get enough of each other ever ! This is the 'magic-carpet' experience that I wish the blossoming young adults, experience at least once, in their life time on their own and this state depends on them not experiencing any disruptive events including undergoing sexual exploitations from nefarious persons in their early part of life. So the society and the parents have the responsibility to see that the bubble we talked about earlier remains intact till the young adults are ready, in a gradual manner, to step into the next significant phase of their life.
Also, we as adults, should take efforts to remove any carnal feelings at least under the below 4 circumstances :
When we are in certain places (like temple or school where our intelligence is nurtured and grown)
When we are in our family setting (certain relations are blessed upon us for experiencing higher feelings/emotions)
When we are in certain times (generally 12 am to 3 am when it is generally considered as time for deep sleep or when it is an eclipse)
When we are doing certain activities (like worshipping or teaching etc.,)