Safe Sex Education – The Way Forward

Introduction

Curiosity about sex starts in a child or adolescent much earlier than you expect. When their body starts to change as puberty approaches they get curious about these changes which leads them to the knowledge of sex. Younger kids usually want to talk about babies and pregnancy instead of sex. In this case, it will be better if you educate them about these changes and sex rather than relying on school or other means. In this article, we will be learning the importance of sex education for growing children.

Sex education is the need of time that can help in gaining skills, information, and motivation for making good and healthy decisions about sexuality and sex. What else can be best than start teaching about it to your kids at a younger age? As children are more sensitive about everything and anything they learn gets deep-rooted in their brains. If you won’t teach them about it, they’ll get to know about sex from some other sources which usually are not right or true.

Usually, the unhealthy decisions people take in their sex life are due to lack of knowledge and which eventually leads to bad consequences and sometimes worst! Even today in countries like India it is considered obscene to talk about sex as it is considered taboo and people think if they talk about it the bad examples will be set for their children.

This is completely wrong! Sex education increases the clarity about the sexual topics in a person’s mind and they are able to take better and healthy decisions for themselves. STD’s sexually transmitted diseases are usually caused due to a lack of knowledge. So it is the need of time to come forward and talk about it to your children from their younger age. This allows you a chance to give knowledge about sexuality and sex to your child before they become sexually active.

If you open up about sexual knowledge with your child especially when they become adolescents, it opens the channel for your child to talk to you about other adolescents’ problems as well as depression, anxiety, drugs, alcohol, relationships, and sexual issues. The best strategy to start educating your child about sex is when they are young and continue it as they grow. This will save you from having those uncomfortable stares and awkward silences if you start when they reach their adolescents and already got to know a bit too much about it from other unreliable sources like their friends and the internet. You can start it like when they see a pregnant woman and ask questions about it.

Tell them about it clearly and not just make funny concepts. When you are teaching them these things about sexual life you can make sure that they are taught the right thing and prevent them from harsh consequences which can come out due to improper knowledge leading to risky sexual practices.

Sex education can help you instill your family values in your child relating to the sex. Like if you come from a background of a family who believes that sexual intercourse should be done only after marriage then you can let them know this thing. If you never talk about these things to your child they will never come to know about it. Also if you do not teach them about sex, you lose control over the things they learn about and the sources from where they learn.

Usually, in countries like India, there are very rare schools that teach kids about sex education. However, even if they are in one of those schools that provides it, you must be cross-checking that if the right facts are being taught. The things which your child will learn from school, friends, or the internet can be incorrect or incomplete which means it can prove to be dangerous for your child. The Internet is flooded with sexual material which usually depicts sex in a very superficial manner and no emotions or related concepts are attached to it. This may ruin the sexual concepts of your child eventually his/her life.

The researches and studies have shown that the children who are not provided sex education are at more risk of being involved in risky sexual activity and even at a much younger age than those who are provided the right sex education.

Some of the points that you should keep in mind while giving your child sex education are:

• You should about sex with your child honestly and calmly
• Listen to their questions and answer them honestly
• Talk about basic sex, STDs, birth control, prevention, peer pressure to have sex, sexual abuses and different types of sexuality
• Before approaching your kid you can also practice the talk with an adult in order to gain some confidence

Open communication with your child about anything, here considering sex education, is always a safer side when looked in the long run. However, I agree this won’t be easy at all to have a conversation about something which considered “Private” especially in India but always think about the future of your kid and then take a step as it will increase your confidence and determination to do it. Yes, there will some awkward silences and embarrassing stares here and there but these are just the rocks of the initial path, once you and your child get comfortable everything will appear to be easy and great.

Just like other teenagers your might also not talk about everything every time too openly to you but sex education by parents always increases the chances of a kid talking to their parents first if they get into some trouble related to the sexual aspect. You can make your kid a sexually responsible adult just by taking one initiative. Be honest and say only the facts or no stories nothing. It may seem that they are not interested because they are much private with their life but do it anyway as they are most probably listening.

In the end, I want to conclude the article that sex education should always include two grounds—One, Listen to your kid and answer their questions honestly, and second, take sex education just like any other education which is a must for your child.