Sex Education

A lot of people think that Sex Education should be kept until a child is older. A common feeling is that knowing about sex 'corrupts' a small child and its best to leave them till later.

I'd argue that it is our fear of talking about sex openly, not just from a young age - that causes many sex-related problems.

I'd propose to have schools giving compulsory sex education classes from 5 years old onwards increasing in complexity as time goes by. So perhaps you'd start with the differences between boys and girls bits, then later in life, relationships, then later the act of sex itself and pregnancy, later you'll go into the scientific aspects as well as the emotional, social and psychological aspects of sex and relationships.

That to me, is a far cleverer way of doing things. Right now, kids are pretty much submerged in sex education without warning and I remember gossiping with my friends about it like it was some dirty 'adult' secret - we had no thoughts that it might just be a very natural process of growing up and that reproduction every organism that has ever existed has aimed to do since the dawn of time. To us it was just a big funny game and as a result when our time came to have sex we were immature and because the issue is such a heavy, secretive weight on society, we all just dived into it, desperate to do it with anyone.

This of course can lead to problems, problems we now face. The UK has highest European teen pregnancy. I'm not sure if we're highest on STD's but I'll bet we're close to the top.
Everyone needs to just chill.the hell.out.

The fact of the matter is, sex isn't a big issue, its just something that kids have got to know about, that they feel comfortable asking their parents about. That girls and boys know how to handle more adult relationships before that time comes.

Knowledge about sex doesn't 'corrupt' a child. 'Doctors and Nurses' is a pretty well established game played between little boys and girls! They're curious and its best not to allow them to be ignorant for too long. Your children aren't going to become sex beasts the second they leave the class.

Introduce the concepts slowly over time from a young age and create a culture that isn't afraid of sex and I think things would turn out better.