But that doesn’t mean you should talk to your 5-year-old about condoms and birth control. Basic sex education starts with the very basics. His Amaze, a sex education site, has an entire section, Amaze Jr., that provides resources for talking about sex with kindergarten and elementary school children. This includes a whole collection of videos specially designed to guide parents through the process of talking to their children. about sex.
But also know that it’s never too late. Most recently, 16-year-old Jeselin Marizan is a youth ambassador for Amaze and is passionate about the importance of giving children access to honest and accurate information about sex. Still, she didn’t grow up telling those stories herself: the daughter of her teenage mother, she was raised to see sex as something to avoid. “I was always kind of scared to bring it up,” she admits.
However, after the COVID-19 pandemic, sex education became part of her life as Jesseline began volunteering at many health education organizations. She began casually bringing up topics such as birth control to her mother and was thrilled to discover it was something they could talk about together. I’m glad to hear that, but I’m grateful that the door is now open.
continue the conversation. “Some parents think that ‘chatting’ is a one-time thing. But conversations about sex, sexuality, love and relationships should be ongoing conversations,” said Amaze Program Manager and Strategic Brand Sambassador. says LeKara Simmons. The more you normalize discussions about sex and the body, the more trust you build with your child. future.
But talking about sex regularly doesn’t mean you have to reinvent the same topics over and over about where babies come from and how to use condoms. Learning about sexism, respecting the bodily autonomy of others, and learning media literacy are just as important as making sure we understand how sperm and eggs make babies.
Find great resources online (and offline) and make sure your child knows about them. No matter how good you are at talking to your kids about sex, there will always be conversations they don’t want to have with you. It could be another trusted adult, such as an aunt, uncle, family friend, or one of the many great sex education resources that exist online and offline.
Websites such as Amaze, Scarleteen, Sex, Etc, Planned Parenthood, Now let’s talk about it!, sex is a funny word, Wait what?, and Sex: Scarlene’s Book! These are all great resources for kids interested in sex. Make sure your kids know about them.
