I am inspired by reading everyone's positive, non-judgemental, matter-of-fact approach to sex ed. It's wonderful to hear this topic discussed in this manner, without so much emotion and shame. Thanks, everyone!
I have a 2.5 year old son, and want to provide him with as much age-appropriate information on all topics, including sexuality. I agree with Susan...girls seem to be the gate-keepers of sexuality as they mature, and I would like to change that trend, so that boys are equally responsible.
So, I have also started sex education with my son. What does this mean for a 2 year old? It means when he points to a body part, calling it by its real name, and not making faces or being squeamish about it. He's got eyes, nose, elbows, and yes, a penis, that he should know the correct names for. The other part of our sex education for a toddler is teaching him to be respectful of others, communicate by using his words, and to stand up for himself and others. In his world, this usually involves toys and playing with other toddlers. But, it won't be long until these skills will translate into other real-world scenarios! When he is playing with a toy, and another toddler grabs for it, we teach him to say, "my turn", to stand up for himself. When a toddler grabs for a toy someone else is playing with, we're teaching him to say, "Sam's turn", to help stand up for others, be fair, and help others use their "big boy words". I think this will also help with bullying (provided he learns more words by then..ha ha!).
In all seriousness, the above toy scenarios are the ones that can build good communication skills, respect, valuing equality, self-esteem, confidence, and more. Then, as he is older, he can (hopefully!!) be able to confront difficult situations verbally, stand up for himself and others respectfully, reason through choices, etc. I really do believe that "sex ed" is no different than any other topic, because you need these same skills for most other situations in life also.
It will get trickier as he is older, no doubt, but I'm hoping we are building a strong foundation in order to add small amounts of information throughout his life, and not have to start with "one big talk" that is uncomfortable. And, if we have more children and any of them are female, then we would do the exact same thing.
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I am inspired by reading everyone's positive, non-judgemental, matter-of-fact approach to sex ed. It's wonderful to hear this topic discussed in this manner, without so much emotion and shame. Thanks, everyone!
I have a 2.5 year old son, and want to provide him with as much age-appropriate information on all topics, including sexuality. I agree with Susan...girls seem to be the gate-keepers of sexuality as they mature, and I would like to change that trend, so that boys are equally responsible.
So, I have also started sex education with my son. What does this mean for a 2 year old? It means when he points to a body part, calling it by its real name, and not making faces or being squeamish about it. He's got eyes, nose, elbows, and yes, a penis, that he should know the correct names for. The other part of our sex education for a toddler is teaching him to be respectful of others, communicate by using his words, and to stand up for himself and others. In his world, this usually involves toys and playing with other toddlers. But, it won't be long until these skills will translate into other real-world scenarios! When he is playing with a toy, and another toddler grabs for it, we teach him to say, "my turn", to stand up for himself. When a toddler grabs for a toy someone else is playing with, we're teaching him to say, "Sam's turn", to help stand up for others, be fair, and help others use their "big boy words". I think this will also help with bullying (provided he learns more words by then..ha ha!).
In all seriousness, the above toy scenarios are the ones that can build good communication skills, respect, valuing equality, self-esteem, confidence, and more. Then, as he is older, he can (hopefully!!) be able to confront difficult situations verbally, stand up for himself and others respectfully, reason through choices, etc. I really do believe that "sex ed" is no different than any other topic, because you need these same skills for most other situations in life also.
It will get trickier as he is older, no doubt, but I'm hoping we are building a strong foundation in order to add small amounts of information throughout his life, and not have to start with "one big talk" that is uncomfortable. And, if we have more children and any of them are female, then we would do the exact same thing.
Thanks for the great discussion!
April 19, 2009 - 7:34amThis Comment
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