Nursery World - Talking time

Parents may seek your advice about how to handle delicate questions young children ask. Rosalyn Spencer explains A group of parents of primary school children recently had an impromptu discussion about sex education. Some of the parents looked embarrassed and said nothing. An older father within the group stated that because attitudes towards sex had changed since he was young and sex was now 'everywhere', even on television before the 9pm watershed, children knew far more than they needed to. This parent argued that increased sexual activity among the young was because children knew too much too soon.

A group of parents of primary school children recently had an impromptu discussion about sex education. Some of the parents looked embarrassed and said nothing. An older father within the group stated that because attitudes towards sex had changed since he was young and sex was now 'everywhere', even on television before the 9pm watershed, children knew far more than they needed to. This parent argued that increased sexual activity among the young was because children knew too much too soon.

The Family Planning Association (FPA) takes a different view. It stresses the dangers of leaving a child's sex education to what they hear from their friends and the media. Much of the information they receive in this way can be misleading. If we are to reduce unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, the FPA argues, sex education needs to have a higher profile in schools.

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