When I consult with parents who want to introduce the topic of puberty and reproduction to their 5th grade sons, they are often surprised to hear that starting these talks should be happening well before 5th grade. Recently, a short but good article from the New York Times’ Parenting Newsletter discusses this and other issues in more detail.
For instance, in a recent survey at Columbia University, students reported that when they did get information about sex, it came mostly from mothers, not fathers (why dads aren’t speaking to their children as much as mothers about these topics is for another day). Also, a different study from 2019 reports that 63% of teen boys’ and 44% of teen girls’ parents never talked to them about contraception. Combine that with the fact that 20 states do not require that sex ed be taught at all, and we can see how so many children have gaps in their knowledge about sex, sexuality, body parts, relationships, consent, and puberty in general.
The article emphasizes what sex educators have known for awhile: that educating your children about the above topics should start early, and multiple “talks” over the months and years of their development should occur. In fact, this is one of the primary goals of The BIG Talk: to facilitate, jumpstart conversations between children and their parents as boys and girls develop through their youth, adolescence, and young adulthood.
For more information, here ’s a link to the article: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/parenting/parents-sex-talk.html