It’s kind of scary these days to be a parent. I have an 8 year old son who already knows the gist of sex. How is that possible? I Asked him the other day just to see what he would say and he told me “ it’s when a man a women are naked and the girl get on top of the guy and they kiss.” It’s not all that goes on as we all know, but for an 8 year old to know that much is scary.
I asked my son where he heard about sex and he told me it was from TV and school. I don’t let him watch anything but cartoon network and nickelodeon. As far as I know those channels don’t really speak about sex. They do ad hints in there jokes just to keep the adult’s involved in the show. However I have never seen them talk about sex in detale, at least enough for my son to tell me about sex.
When I was in middle school my friends and I talked about sex all the time. We did not know everything, but we did know a lot. Who would think that a third grader would know more about sex then a 6th grader? When I was 8 I had a huge crush on a boy. I wanted to be his girlfriend and he thought I had cooties. I was not thinking about sleeping with him.
Kids are learning about sex at a much younger age then before and there not learning about it from the right sources. We as parents need to start having “the talk” with our kids before they hear it from too many outside sources. They don’t learn what they need to learn about it. They need to understand that sex is not just something you do because your board. What about pregnancy, STD’s, or STI’s?
The bigger problem is not just that they are learning about it; it’s that they are doing it. In 2006 the teen pregnancy rate rose 3% from the 4% it rose in 2005. 1 in 4 sexually active teens has an STD.
Our kids are going to do it regardless if we want them to or not. At least this is how we need to look at it. If we going into it with our eyes wide open we will be better equipped to handle it. Offer contraceptives like birth control pills and condoms. I know we all want to think that it’s not their child, but would you much rather know that your child is protected and having sex then not know and your child comes home pregnant or with a lifelong STD that will shorten their life like AID’s cause I sure don’t. I would rather love my child knowing they are not perfect then think they are and find out the hard way their not!
