How To Provide Sex-Education To Your Child At An Early Age

Sex education for kids is crucial for ensuring their safety and allowing them to understand the functioning of their bodies. 

sex education for kids at early age

Sex education does not begin in school, where kids either giggle during their biology lessons or are made to feel ashamed of their bodies. It must begin at home and at an early age.

In a 2021 interview with India Ahead, sexuality educators Anju Krish, Parul Ohri, and Swati Jagdish talked about providing sex education to kids when they are young. We often confuse that sex education only revolves around intercourse, but it is so much more.

Here are a few tips on how to provide sex-education to your young child.

Call Intimate Parts By Their Names

call intimate parts by name

An article in Raising Children says that parents must introduce their toddlers, even ones under two, to their private body parts. Ohri believes that children who can name their private parts, openly talk about them, and are confident about their bodies are much more safe from sexual abuse.

We teach them to navigate eyes, hair, legs, toes, hands, fingers, stomach and head. Why not introduce them to the penis, vulva and nipples as well? At such a young age, everything to them is merely a part of their body.

Talk About Touches

Children between the age of two and three are curious. This is the right age to teach them about touches and consent. Talk to them about good touch, bad touch and an 'absolutely not okay touch'.

Krish says that when parents teach their kids about an 'absolutely not okay touch', they must also teach them a way to escape such a situation. This includes running away from an adult, hiding in the bathroom, etc.

Don’t Lie About Where Babies Come From

do not lie to kids

An article in Today's Parent says that guardians must not lie to their children about where babies come from. If your child asks about it, you must explain how the baby grows in a mother’s womb.

Depending on the grasping power of your kid, you can also tell them how a baby is conceived. Sex Chat with Pappu & Papa is a series on YouTube where you can also learn how to explain a few things to your kids without making it too complicated for them.

Explicitly Talk About Sexual Abuse

If your child is six or above, it is the right age to talk to them explicitly about sexual abuse. At this age, they can understand the concept of seeking permission before touching.

A good way to practice this is to ask permission from children to touch them before you change their clothes. Parents must do this as soon as their kids can speak. You must tell them if someone touches them without their permission, they must run away from that person and immediately report to another adult about it.

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Talk About Puberty Before Books Do

talk about consent to kids

Most students get acquainted with puberty in books when they are 13 or 14. However, many kids hit puberty when they are 10. This is the time when you must talk to them about the development of breasts, changes in voice, changes in the colour of nipples, growing public hair, changes in hormones, etc.

Most young kids get confused about what is happening to their bodies and how they should deal with it. It is also the right age for parents to tell kids about periods, irrespective of their gender.

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Jagdish believes that there is no point in segregating kids based on their gender, instead, all should be imparted with similar knowledge so that taboos around menstruation and such topics can be broken.

Kids are impressionable, therefore, parents must tell them the right thing instead of beating around the bush. And sex education is what every child must get right at home.

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