Some decades back, most parents and guardians did not see reasons to educate their children about sex and sexuality and those who even did, were sceptical and not as honest and open as they should be during such conversations.
In today’s world and with the 21st-century child, it is more than expedient for us to educate our children on sex and sexuality. This is because if you don’t, there are many platforms through which they can get misinformed.
There are certain tips you need to know as a parent or guardian if you will be able to educate your child adequately about sex and sexuality.
And discussed in this article is what you need to know about sex, sexuality and how best to go about educating your children about it.
1. What is sex?
Sex is the characteristic that distinguishes every organism into two major categories (male and female). It can also be defined as activities associated with sexual intercourse.
2. What is sexuality?
Sexuality refers to the total expression of who you are as a human being, your femaleness or your maleness. Our sexuality begins at birth and ends at death and everyone is a sexual being.
Sexuality isn’t just about sex. It’s also the way your child feels about their developing body. And it’s how your child understands and expresses feelings of intimacy, attraction and affection for others, and how your child develops and maintains respectful relationships.
As a parent or guardian, in order to effectively educate your child about sex and sexuality, you should do the following:
3. Ask what they know about sex and sexuality (do not underestimate them)
It’s funny how most parents and guardians continue to deceive themselves by thinking their children know nothing about sex or sexuality. In their words, these children are still small, what do they know?
Well, if you have this same thought pattern then you might be wrong as you are dealing with the 21st-century child also known as Gen Z.
Do not assume your child knows nothing about sex, rather seek to discover what they know about the subject matter and how far they know.
When you know what your child knows about sex, you are better equipped to know how best to come in without them seeing you as a threat.
4. Have open and honest conversations with them
To be a 21st-century parent is not an easy job.
This set of children are not the ones that you can lie to; they are the set of children that think faster than you; they are always curious and always interested in asking questions; they tend to follow what you do rather than what you say; so you see the reason you can’t leave their acquisition of sex education to chance.
In order to effectively educate your child on sex and sexuality, you need to be as open and honest as possible.
Tell them what they need to know according to their level of understanding. Permit them to ask you questions and make them feel comfortable discussing this topic with you whenever they want to.
5. Both parents should be involved
If you’re not a single parent, it is important you get your spouse involved in this kind of discussion with your child.
Sex education is not only meant to be the role of the mother, as a father you also need to get involved.
Having both parents educate their children about sex education helps your children get diverse but unified opinions and knowledge about what sex and sexuality are all about.
Take the bold step of teaching your children first about sex education.
6. Know when and where to stop
The fact that your child needs sex education doesn’t mean you have to tell them everything about sex and sexuality. You need to be wise and discerning in order to know when to stop based on your child’s age and ability to comprehend.
Your child doesn’t need to be an expert – your child just needs to know what is appropriate for them at that stage.
So, as a parent, you don’t need to go too deep when discussing sex education with your child such that they begin to imagine untold things in their heads.
Be wise.
7. It is never a one-off conversation
It is important that you know that sex education is not what you do just once. It is a continuous discussion with your wards even as they grow older.
As your child grows, you tend to discuss more and make them understand what they should at their present level and age.
When you have had open and honest conversations with your children while they were young, continuing the conversation as they grow older wouldn’t be hard.
These continued conversations also help you correct any misinformation they might have about sex and sexuality.
Your children deserve to get educated about sex and sexuality first from you as their parents. Do not deny them this knowledge so they won’t end up being misinformed and making avoidable mistakes.
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