Talking to Your Kids about Their Bodies

[IndiaParenting]

What is the right age to talk to kids about puberty and sex? How can parents start conversation with kids about their bodies? Why is it necessary to talk to kids about their bodies?
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[Palak Dalvi]

Hi, teaching your children about sex education is very important and necessary. They should be aware of their body parts and should be aware who can touch it and who cannot. There is a time when the parent have to have a conversation with their children about sex education. Talking to kids about their body is like a challenge for the parents. But they should know about their body parts, puberty, sex, private parts and sexuality. Do not make fun when you are trying to tell them all these thing otherwise they will try to take all these things lightly.

[Kanchi Kothari]

Talking about sex education and puberty is a serious matter which should be taken seriously by both parent and the children. It is always better to have a face to face conversation than talking indirectly. Some parents feel shy or embarrassed to talk about it but there is no need of being so as it is a natural thing and one day or the other you will have to talk to your children. The more freely you talk the more easily they’ll talk and open up to you. When they ask you any questions or doubts you should be able to answer them properly according to their age.

[Siya Gandhi]

Hello, even I have been through this situation earlier and according to me you can start up with the introduction of the private parts of the body. It is important that the children understand the importance of these parts and know proper names of the parts including their functions. You should teach them both male and female anatomy like vagina and penis rather than giving them any other name. This will help increase their knowledge and can save them from any kind of sexual abuse of any gender even when the kids are small. Take it slow do not hurry up let the child understand.

[Simran Jain]

The most important thing which all the children should know is that the private parts which they have are special and nobody is allowed to touch it and nobody should hurt it. Teaching the children that private parts are not dirty and are meant to be special. No one can see, touch and hurt them apart from themselves. No one in the family, friend, neighbours and a complete no to the strangers can touch it. It is necessary to keep those parts clean when you take bath and take care of it. Also teach them to say no to any kind of abusive touch or hurting feeling.

[Shweta Kale]

Sometimes children might get confused and it might be difficult for them to understand somethings. Give them proper examples or explanations which they can easily understand and keep in mind. When I was in school they had organised a lecture on sex education for us in school itself but boys differently and girls differently and they showed us various slide shoes by which we could understand things in a simpler way. I thought showing us picture was quite a convenient ways of letting us the information. You can also try using books which show examples and picture for an easy understanding.

[Sonia Roy]

Assure your child that they can believe in themselves and trust their instincts which can tell them that what is wrong and what is right. It is important that you make them believe what is correct and what is not. Make them believe in their instincts and trusting their guts. By this they can learn to make choices and decide who and what is safe and who is reliable around. It is necessary that you tell your child that if someone tries to hurt them you can be rude to them and come and tell you as well, also try to stay away from such people.

[Fatima Shreen]

Remember you are talking to your kids taking his age under consideration you can talk to your child about puberty and safe sex after an age of 7 years. This is the age when they hit their puberty and start maturing and understand things more properly and this is the time you can discuss about sex, Puberty and masturbation. They must know that during this time both the genders undergo physical changes and should understand the risk of intimate activities and the consequences like pregnancy and many other things. When you talk about it seriously children understand if properly and start being aware of things.

[Ishika Seth]

It is difficult for majority of the parents to discuss about sex, puberty and masturbation with their children as they are quite shy and also feel awkward about it. But if you keep the conversations natural and quite casual then it won’t be embarrassing for you and the children both. Try to keep the conversations ongoing and discuss small topics whenever possible but face to face. Having direct conversations is more effective and it is also important for them to know about safe sex, after which age and when it should be done, what precautions should be taken and what are the consequences.