Tuesday, March 04, 2014

[pmwzeilo] Teach your children about sex

Dear parents and parents-to-be,

Consider teaching your children about sex: not just the biological aspects of it, but also how issues related to sexuality pervade nearly every aspect of society and human behavior, and that people think and act in a great many radically different ways about those issues.

Take advantage of that phase of curiosity in young children when they ask "why" about everything.  In that phase, you can provide them with answers that their mind is prepared to receive (they having asked "why"); learning need not be a traumatic shock.

It's all right if you aren't sure about answers, just express your uncertainty.  Later in life, your child will undoubtedly confirm that questions concerning social and behavioral aspects of sexuality are among the most difficult questions about humanity and will not fault a parent for being uncertain.

Teach from a young age, and try to be as complete as possible: don't hold back just because a topic is considered taboo, though you may wish to digress into an explanation of the concept of taboo.

Someday, your child will face first-hand some situation related to sexuality, and education prevents unpleasant surprise.  In particular, it prevents being made a victim by people who would take advantage of your child's ignorance about sexuality to manipulate and cause harm.

Are there classes which train parents how to talk to their child about sex? Are they complete in the way I am suggesting?

Some previous posts on this topic:

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