It’s kind
of obvious that we participate in every momento in our children education. With
our attitude and our speech we pass on different messages that influent the
construction of their own identity. Regadreless of our own educational
methodologies, it’s very important to be actively involved in the process,
especially in sex education issues. This means that we should be very receptive
to children questions, and hold a responsible attitude towards. It’s good to establish
at home a nice environment, that allows them to trust in our answers because if
they won’t get a trustable answer, or even any answers at all, they will ask
anywhere else until they get to the information.
We should
keep in mind, that when a child ask a question aloud, he/she is well prepared
to know an answer. A positive attitude is to face and answer these questions
honestly, with real information. We must use the right vocabulary to name all
body organs, because “penis” and “vulva” shouldn’t offend anybody. If we make
our explanation simple, true and believable, children will certainly
understand. We can learn from our own experience, that true stories are more
reliable.
Children
notice that people’s body changes a lot: it grows in height, hair start growing
in people legs, genitals and men faces, women brest change their shape, and
hips get wider…Old people also look different, with white hair, or no hair at all…This kind of elements
raise doubts. In addition, other doubts are arising from society issues, such
as familu structures, couples, gender stereotypes, etc…
It’s
useful to be ready to receive classical questions as “Where babies come from?”,
but
also we should know that children minds are unpredictable and they can ask
anything related with sexuality. So don’t panic! If you don’t know what to say,
just relax, breath. Take your time to think and answer. But if you really don’t
know, tell him/her that you are not sure about that matter, invite him/her to
look for the information together: “What an interesting question! I’m not sure
how does it works, why don’t we look together for the answer?”.
Most of
the questions that shows up, will not have scientific right or wrong answers
(all questions that are not concerned in human biology topics), such as “What
love is?”, “Why can’t we get married Dad?”. Whe should take some time to think
and reflect on our opinions in different situations, in order to have a well-established
position for the future.
