Children and Sexuality

When should children be educated about their sexual orientation? Should the parent or school teach them about gender differences? Or should the child learn on his own about homosexuality and of other genders?

I don't have a problem with the subject being touched upon as early as elementary school.

When they hit puberty. 13 years old sounds good.

it should be done when they have sex education class's.

my parents told me in 4th grade. my school told me in 6th grade.

thats about when they should start teaching it.

my parents told me in 4th grade. my school told me in 6th grade.

thats about when they should start teaching it.

munchlax99

When should children be educated about their sexual orientation? Should the parent or school teach them about gender differences? Or should the child learn on his own about homosexuality and of other genders?

GTA3_Darkel

My school broached the subject in grade 3, and came back to it in Grade 6. I also think parents should talk about it around grade 3 too, there's less embarassment at that age.

This reminds me of the educational videos we had to watch in middle

school. The kids in the videos would ask questions like "What's a boner?" lol.

Anyway, I learned about sex the hard way. Take that anyway you'd like.

Whenever they ask, elementary school is fine if they don't ask prior. I think public schools have every right to discuss homosexuality, transgender etc. Parents often don't know enough to teach about transgender and the like, or just don't accept it which creates discrimination and hate towards groups of people, because the parents dislike them already. school is the best option.XilePrincess

8 to 10 years of age in classroom. Safe sex education should be another step like 4 to 5 years later.

A good looking baby-sitter should teach them (boys) at the age of 12.

Sexual orientation is something that should definitely be touched upon in sixth or seventh grade. It's far too confusing to just let teenagers try and deal with it themselves. My school hardly touched upon anything sex-wise and I found that I was pretty late to the game, so to speak.

[QUOTE="XilePrincess"]Whenever they ask, elementary school is fine if they don't ask prior. I think public schools have every right to discuss homosexuality, transgender etc. Parents often don't know enough to teach about transgender and the like, or just don't accept it which creates discrimination and hate towards groups of people, because the parents dislike them already. school is the best option.mattbbpl

When they hit puberty. 13 years old sounds good.

Trinners

[QUOTE="Trinners"]

When they hit puberty. 13 years old sounds good.

EMOEVOLUTION

Puberty starts on average at 10 years old for girls and 12 years old for boys. When at 13 years old you typically graduate from elementary/begin high school so teaching sex education around that time of transition is important. 8 years old is way too young still.

Are there any cons in doing so?

I think it depends on the child maturity. Some children know exactly what sex is at the age of 7, some don't. That's why I think parents should teach their kids about sex and not the teachers. Their may be students in class who don't even know what sex is and I don't think it's a good idea for teachers to force it upon the students who don't know anything about sex or very little.

That child who knows nothing about sex or very little may try to touch a boy/girl in the wrong way and think it's okay. So yeah I think it should be the parents job to teach her son/daughter about sex because no one knows their son/daughter better then the parents. Some kids are more mature then others.

depends on the child. Some children are more interested in sexuality than others at an earlier stage.

I think they should start doing it before puberty so they are prepared for the onslaught of hormones to comes. Possibly around the 3rd or 4th grade. Maybe even the second grade.

it should be done when they have sex education class's.

clyde46

I also find it funny that north american countries have such problems with this question yet in Europe they begin teachign the children about sexual orientation much earlier. And in Europe they have a much lower STD rate even though they are more sexually active.

Before most kids hit puberty, so between ages 9-11 would be fine with me. Its better to teach this stuff before they get to that point in their lives so they at least know what to expect.

I don't have a problem with the subject being touched upon as early as elementary school.

Smallville417

12-13 years is the most appropriate. Though I learned about everything when I was 11. :P

My daughter was made aware of sexual orientation from a very young age as all of my male friends were gay It probably seemed more natural for her to see two men together than it was for her to see a man and woman together. She's only asked about it explicitly this year, and some bigoted comments must have been made by other children because I needed to clarify the normality of all orientations for her.

As for education in schools, my kid is due for the unit next year but I don't know if I should let her attend. Her special education teachers will follow it up apparantly to clarify points, but I'm still not comfortable.

I was raised Catholic and was never given 'the talk'. My parents gave me books like 'Where Did I Come From?", and "What's Happening to Me?"...it never occured to me that those things actually related to me in any way though lol

I think Grade 5 (10 years) is appropriate for the beginning talks, and then follow it up in later years with more explicit and detailed explanations.