At what age should sexual education be given to children?

Question

In my opinion, it should be given to children after the age of 10

ChrisMaster69 · Accepted Answer

From a very similar question this week,

Personally it’s best done progressively.

keep to what’s relevant at that age and keep it factual with the correct names, don’t just make up stuff and give it stupid names.

Then as they get older introduce more information, don’t simply flood them like a text book.

Encourage questions when they want to learn or understand more, be open never don’t have time to answer no matter what it is.

The first thing a kid does on starting school etc, is do the boys are different to girls thing, or even sooner, they need the basics then, differences and that’s about it, also hygiene.

Then as girls start moving towards body changes or their friends do, be prepared for the next bit on boobs, periods, what to do if it happens, where stuff is in the house, (make sure she has a mobile by then) and overall hygiene.

By the time he or she is moving to high school at 11, then it’s time for pretty much everything, they can and will be potentially doing stuff, now it’s about sexual health, safety and consent and yes hygiene.

over 11 to 16 it’s whatever the situation needs, be fluid and be prepared to answer pretty much anything, this includes some of the more awkward things such as abortion and the more detailed stuff told to them earlier, building on that information.

Over 16 there should be almost nothing, if your son or daughter at 16 does not fully understand, Sex, sexual health, consent, hygiene and some other stuff, then I personally believe as a parent you have failed, and congratulations on being a grandparent.

the entire journey should be a nice one, awkward but nice, at all times they should feel happy to ask anything, and not shy about it, things like masturbation need to be shoved in above, that greatly depends on when you notice it or suspect it.

For anyone say 10 or over, at what point will you discuss periods with your daughter?
after she’s had them at say 9, with, oh cool we knew about those but thought would keep it as a surprise.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/periods/starting-periods/

Also if you leave it too long, then they just learn stuff from school or social media and that becomes the source of truth not the parent.

Oh and also from some of the questions, opinions by some adults on here, they really need to learn sex educations themselves in the first place.

magiusX26 · Accepted Answer

case by case basis. you have to pay attention to your child to have a decent idea of when. also keep aware of their social enviroment as well as physial environent. then when ever you do it should be as age appropriate as possible. and just an fyi, contrary to popular belief, "the talk" does not yave to be all done in one go.

i learned very early about sex and started very early as well (found some porn mags) so tell you the paragraph above out of experience. luckily i figured a lot out on my own so avoided a lot of "the talk" and none of it was nearly early enough. waiting till 10 (depending on biological flukes) could have resulted in making parents into grandparents at least for some. it is quite rare that a child of either gender can produce their side of making a child that early, but it does happen (history books have a handful or 2 of children due to such) . though it was due to horrible circumstances, a girl in south america holds the record for youngedt mother because she was only 5 when she became a mother. last i recall for males is i think either 6 or 7 for record as youngest dad.

Ez-Bri-Z · Accepted Answer

When they ask about it.

Chances are if they even know how to ask a question they are either experiencing it in some way like friends at school have mentioned it, they saw something on TV or they are having feelings of their own. I'd rather be honest with them and give them the correct narrative rather than let their friends or tv teach them.

alice55 · Accepted Answer

I would say 15 or 16 inn high school but not before. In my school we had it when I was 11 and that was much too early.

Brainsbeforebeauty · Answer

I think that's the decision of the parents to make for their child, noone else...

purplepoppy · Answer

Any age as long as it's age appropriate. For very young a simple explanation like "a special hug" will suffice.

Honesttguy · Answer

I mean it be different stages, the older get more detailed lessons.
First grade stuff like female and male meet each other and make baby.
To later years more scientific, why protection important and so on

OlderAndWiser · Answer

At whatever age the parents decide is appropriate.

NathanDavis · Answer

here is 9~10 and it starts very basic "know your body" hygiene, privacy, respect and all that, and then it goes gradually till you're 18

BlackTealLazer · Answer

10 or 11... you know, before "changes" start happening so they can be fully aware.

Barry88 · Answer

I first had sexual education at elementary school, around the age of 10. In my opinion, that's a good age to start with it. It's the age that children start to get curious, that their bodies are changing. Better to start early than too late.

Citizenkirk · Answer

Basic human anatomy should be taught at a young age and the rest of it should be incrementally taught at age appropriate levels throughout childhood and Young adulthood.

exitseven · Answer

I do not know. I think I would let them find out about it from the older kids in the neighborhood like I did.

awkward_author · Answer

Around the age of 10.

Massageman · Answer

Whenever their parents decide it should.

GlassTop · Answer

Teach biology and anatomy of child birth in middle school. Teach sex at 15-16. Honestly sex at 15-16 is too young. Teens really should wait until 18. The consequences are just too great and not worth the risks at such a young age. But we know hormones kick in and teens like to get stupid.

OfDeath · Answer

I'd say grade 5 would be a good place to start. By grade 8, they should have been told the full deal. That's probably around 10 years old to 13/14. So by 13 or 14 there are real pregnancies occurring. So they need to know before that.