What age do you fully explain sex to your kids?

Question

I had to explain a bit (not fully) when my child came home from first grade using the word sex inappropriately.

Answer 1

I don't have any kids yet, but i have a 11 year old niece, that start talking about dating, so i did talk to her about sex and why she should think about it, so age from 12 and above is good.

Answer 2

When they ask, you tell, age appropriately. K-12. No matter what age. Tell, explain, show, everything.. make sex an open book in your home or else they will be opening their zippers faster!

Kids need to know. When they ask they need to be told. There is no age that is appropriate, more than the other. Your child will find out from someone at whatever age they are at, so I suggest that be from the parent(s)....

This is how I do things anyway... my kids are 11 and 8. My daughter (11) asks a lot... I tell her most things... age appropriate of course. But, think about it. She's going into Jr High next year and people who say there isn't pressures about having sex and doing drugs, etc, in jr high are wrong.

LOL sorry to overwhelm you but I am just preparing you for the future... and encouraging you with all my heart to start now. Education is KEY!

Answer 3

It depends on what they are curious about. An average first grader probably should know how to correctly name anatomy and very simply without too much GRAPHIC detail know where it is and what it looks like. This can be done with helping to change a diaper. If you don't have a younger child or an opportunity of that nature simple line drawings of the external gentitalia of both boys and girls ought to be enough, unless there are other forces at play, like a pregnancy in the family.

The way we look at sex ed in our house is this. BEAT the school to it, but in a slow calm step by step approach. Sex has never (unless we are in a terribly public setting) been a No-No topic and even if we could not always answer him right away we always answered him. Never get embarrassed by a question. My son just last year in the car, when he was 7 asked me if men get their penises pierced after he had seen a fellow who was very peirced. It came out of no where like a bolt of lightning but we ended up having a very good discussion because of it. I felt like bursting into a million pieces the whole time... but I never let him know it. Lay the foundation not only of knowlege but of trust. If you trust him sex and inform him of what it is for he will be more trustworthy I think. Just a theory. Even some of the most protected kids nowadays sees sex around them. It is in commercials and TV and movies and music and in the mall. It unfortunately is in our Elementary schools as well. Don't be afraid to bring it up out of the blue every once in a while if you don't already have semi-regular discussions about it. Ask them if they know what something is. Ask them if they had anything about the opposite sex they had been wondering about. Ask them if there is anything about the same sex they had been wondering about. Don't badger, but engage them (I find the car a good place because it can feel very casual and we don't HAVE to make eye contact if we don't feel like it and it's not because we are ashamed).

Answer 4

Well first of all, 1st grade you should ask "what do you think it means ?" Then go from there. My hubby and I have had the talk with our 3 oldest children, girls, and each time it was "gentle", just what they needed to know, simple, not too much. Also, we explained that the sperm got to the egg when a man and woman lay really really close together.
As they are getting older, they ask a bit more, but are content with simple answers. Also, having standards of dress, music, TV viewing, dating and so on can help as well as open communication.
I would suggest talking to your child's teacher or childcare provider to find out why a child of this age is asking such questions, and again ask the child what he thinks it means.....he or she may think it means mopping the floor or going down the slide....silly, but true.....good luck

Answer 5

My mother explained to me about sex when I was 4; not in a dirty way but because she wished to keep me safe. Child molesters and the like prey on a childs ingnorance on sex...the more a child is "sheltered" or kept away from it, the more the child is likely to not understand and then feel shameful.
It is hard, as a parent to know the "rights" and "wrongs" of raising a child...I know, my son is 3 and sometimes I feel that if i explain to much, he'll be jadded, but yet I don't want him so sheltered that he has no idea on anything in the "adult" world.
I feel that my mother had it right...start with the basics at an early age to head of any sort of "happenings" and then build with time...you just have to go off of your child; if they are embarassed, you're saying too much; if they're are asking questions, then they want to know. With parenting you have to play it all by ear...there is no "perfect" parent, we all make mistakes...but looking back, my mother and father was perfect in this case. They didn't scare me or embarass me, but they kept me informed based on my age and what I could handle.
Then again, both of my parents were very open in discussing sex with me; especially when I got older. That may seem a bit "odd" to some; but I wouldn't have it any other way...their openess with me allowed me to know that if I felt something, or heard something, or saw something...I could go to them and tell them anything...and that was the best thing about my parents; and I hope that I am as good as them when it comes to issues like this.

Answer 6

First grade you say? And was the teacher a brown-nosing politically correct sychophant seeking to climb her career ladder of success by any chance by making this mole-hill into Mt. Everest?

You DON'T explain sex to a first grade child....HELLLOOOO!!!! Have we lost ALL decent common sense in this politically correct yuppie azz world?

Bring the subject up when they're 12. Between now and that time, I pray you come up with a sensible approach to the issue.

As for that teacher, tell her "Thanks for your concern, but my child is a first grader, not a teen case you been too busy showboating your career to your supervisors to even notice. Please lay off with your alleged concerns and focus on teaching kids.

Answer 7

I'm a nurse and work in the hospitals, I see a lot pregnant girls now at 12 and 13,so around 10 I would say,maybe younger,if not they will learn it from friends,and TV

Answer 8

thats perrty funny
im 12 and i learned mostly about sex when i was 7
and just keep learning more
now a days (lol) you rarely need to have a talk with ur kid
they learn most of it from watchin porn and hangin out with friends

Answer 9

i'd say around 12 my brothers that age and I'm starting to hear him talk about "hot girls" and boobs and I think he should be talked to now. I think it really depends on your child also though. cuz having older sibling makes them learn alot sooner then others!

Answer 10

I'm 24 and my parents have still not had that talk with me =)