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Sex Education For Kids
- Thread starter Rival
- Start date
I think just before puberty kicks in
So they can understand what's going to happen to them
Although I was taught how babies are made before I hit puberty and that did me no harm
If I'm picking an average age, 9, but it's not like you have to wham them in the face with every aspect all at once.
exchemist
Veteran Member
Too late, in my view. Better to teach them the basics very early, when they find it just normal and not something embarrassing and full of innuendo.
But it looks as if you are talking, not about basic sex education, but about all the varieties of sexual attraction and identity that tie us in knots today. On that I agree it is better to leave it a bit later. But I still would do it before puberty, because that is when self-consciousness sets in and makes it a more difficult discussion to have.
VoidCat
Pronouns: he/they/it/neopronouns
My sister started her period at 8...so Id say maybe 7?
This s pretty unusual and I think would be a case-by-case basis incident.
I think basic sex ed should be around 11 years old, or in one's final year of primary school, that sort of general area - but LGBTQ stuff? Never. You just learn about that in the course of life. No-one I know had to be sat down and taught about LGBTQ stuff. You just know as you go.
VoidCat
Pronouns: he/they/it/neopronouns
Yet 7 seems to be the age they consider it to be precocious purberty. After that medical folk see periods as normal timing. So that's why I say 7
I think it depends what we mean by puberty. Average menstrual onset is 12, and usually occurs after other pubertal signs such as breast growth, which tends to begin somewhat younger. So I was taught that menstruation before around 11-12 is atypical.
Starting your periods - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Typically, you'll start your periods about 2 years after your breasts start growing and about a year after getting a white vaginal discharge. The average girl will get her first period around 12 years old, but it varies from person to person.
exchemist
Veteran Member
I disagree, actually. If one wants to avoid a homophobic culture, one needs children approaching adolescence to be given rules for what is unacceptable, and openness around the subject. For example, there several teachers at my son's school who are known to be gay, and a few more of whom it is suspected. There are also some gay boys and girls. My son and his peers take it in their stride. To them it is just normal and not worthy of comment, once they know. That would not have been the case 30 years ago, when such things were not openly discussed. Instead we would have had whispering campaigns, a sense of shame, and bullying over it.
This may be an issue of era. I was a kid in the early 00s and sure kids said dumb things, but they didn't mean it and were just joshing. I think the worst thing we can do is make an issue of it. I think if kids are raised right and learn to respect everyone then that should really be enough, without having to divide people unnecessarily into groups.
VoidCat
Pronouns: he/they/it/neopronouns
You know nobody told me about vaginal discharge being normal? I found out on my own and for years I thought it was abnormal but was scared to tell anyone cuz I thought something was seriously wrong and was afraid of going to the hospital.
stvdv
Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
I agree with the age you suggest. Maybe 13.
My parents never bothered, and I learned about sex on a school bus.
Depends on what one means by sex education. Like I think anatomical education should start pretty dang early, with vague terms like 'no no spot' being dismissed entirely for their proper terms. Not only do I think this would help kids talk about problems easier, but you're building a trust with them before hormones and adolescent pressures kick in which make education all the harder.
(CW assault) It also would have let me better describe what had happened to me to my parents and police when I was assaulted.
Lastly a lot of girls like me started menstruation young. Even as young as 8. 1 in 10 women develop PCOS and other reproductive issues that put them well outside the average for puberty, and those kids find themselves bereft of info on what's happening with their body, not being ashamed of it, and what to do about it.
(CW assault) It also would have let me better describe what had happened to me to my parents and police when I was assaulted.
Lastly a lot of girls like me started menstruation young. Even as young as 8. 1 in 10 women develop PCOS and other reproductive issues that put them well outside the average for puberty, and those kids find themselves bereft of info on what's happening with their body, not being ashamed of it, and what to do about it.
I think we're talking at different wavelengths here.
I learnt anatomical names, where babies literally come from (out the vagina) etc., by the time I was around 8. My mother wasn't into lying to me or using silly words (apart from when I was really young). But this wasn't formally explained to me, it was just in the course of being. Same with pretty much every other kid I knew, who used words like 'penis' when they were young. I'm more talking about when do we explain, if ever, about periods, seminal discharges, how intercourse works, oral sex, STD's, etc.
In today's world, unfortunately kids are usually sexually active quite early. Puberty is a bit late for education. Kids at school will educate your kids the wrong way if you don't do it the right way.
It has to begin much earlier but in an age appropriate way. There are quite a lot of books, well illustrated for younger children. Teen pregnancy rates have not really dropped and STD's are still around.
It can be an awkward conversation but if you treat it with due respect, and keep it age appropriate, best to start early.
Why?
That may be what we're trying to avoid though?
I'm unclear on what you mean. Parents trying to avoid telling their children, or trying to avoid having kids learn on a school bus?