Blog 2 - "The Talk"

Looking back at my own personal experience with my parents teaching me, I can tell you what I will NOT do. They bought me a book with a lot of medical information that exceeded my ability to understand. It left me confused and with more questions than answers. The way I believe for a parent to approach this has to be tailored to the individuals’ involved. Perhaps a smarter child than I would have understood the medical book that my parents furnished me with. To me this was a bit of an easy way out and to avoid having any real conversation about the matter. I now have a pre-teen, and many of these conversations have taken place. She is intelligent enough to understand and grasp anatomy and biology. Children are growing up so much faster these days and the parents need to be aware and to start preparing these children with little conversations along the way. By taking little steps with the obvious that boys and girls are different and building upon this, it allows a child to digest the new information and ponder it for a while. And then the next step. Ultimately, filling in all of the details, there are many available materials for sex education from a ton of different organizations. Every major religion have some materials available if a parent wishes to approach it from a religious stand point and the government has tons of literature that is available for anyone seeking help in approaching this subject with a child. My child having been raised in a home where both parents are involved in medical related careers, she has been taught the basics of anatomy at a very early age simply because she asked a question. But ultimately, the conversation about sex came up about a walk in the zoo. Two animals were seen mating; there could have been a better opportunity to approach the subject about making babies. The details will continue to be filled in as she grows and is ready for more information. This process needs to be started at a fairly early age and it needs to have honest and real answers, and staying away from old sayings such as the stork that drops off the babies. Children today are learning so much faster due to the spread of information and availability of information. It is important that a parent keep an open line of communication and continues this process as the child grows and develops. Too much information at any one time can overload and confuse a child, and even scare them. Small pieces of knowledge based on facts, one step at a time is the best way to educate. As our classes are taught in school, we must be taught one plus one before we get to STDs and HIVs. It only makes sense to start with the basics and move to the advanced levels of knowledge as it is appropriate.