At What Age Should I Start Talking About Sex? [Video]
Parents have many questions when it comes to their children and sex and sexuality. One of the most common questions is, “at what age do I start having this conversation?” This video not only answers that question but also helps put parent’s sexuality education in context.
Transcript
Welcome to Talk and Thrive Education series on overcoming the most common obstacles to talking comfortably with your children about sex and sexuality.
So, today’s common question that we’re going to answer is “When should I start talking to my child about the birds and the bees?”
Actually, you can start as early as 3 or 4 years old but whatever your age your child is, you can start then. As soon as children start asking questions, they deserve age-appropriate answer. If you look at it as a development milestone, children need certain information at certain ages so that they can grow up as healthily as possible.
Children naturally start to ask questions somewhere between the ages of 4 and 6. If they don’t bring it up, then you can start the conversation. The reason you want to bring it up is because at this age it’s no big deal. They just fold it into the information they’re learning about life in general. And we know that when children learn what they need to learn at the appropriate age then they become sexually healthy children who turn into sexually healthy adolescents, who turn into sexually healthy adults.
If you can think of it like math, you teach children basic math skills like counting and arithmetic and then eventually move on to calculus. but you don’t teach arithmetic in the 12th grade because it’s too late and you can’t teach calculus if you haven’t taught arithmetic in the first place.
So, children between the ages of 4-8 need to know the truth about where babies come from. A great way to deliver this information is with books. Robie Harris’ book, “It’s Not the Stork” is a great tool for this. It has great language and illustrations that really make it accessible and fun for children to learn.
If you open up the conversation about sex and sexuality early then when they grow up they’ll be much more likely to talk to you about all the other stuff in their lives. And what parent doesn’t want that?
For more information, videos and resources, go to TalkandThrive.com or on Facebook finds us at TalkandThriveEducation.
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