Sex Education Tips for Children in India

With increasing dependency on mass media, it has become essential for parents to ensure that their children have the right knowledge about sex. Here are sex education tips for children in India, which are essential to explain the implications of sex and physical relationships to children/teenagers:

• Whether the parents should tell their children about sex or they should wait for the children to pop the question first has always been a conflicting question. Not all children are same. Most children end up discussing about sex with their friends. This, however, is a harmful situation because their friends, who will also be going through similar situation, may give incorrect or incomplete information. The circulation of incorrect information between children may lead to unwanted teenage pregnancies or inappropriate sexual actions. To prevent such situation, parents must know when to talk to their children about sex and repercussions caused by unprotected sex or inappropriate sexual behavior.
• Parents must develop trust and friendship with their children. Children should also feel open to discuss their speculations with regards to sex education with their parents. Trust and mutual discussions from both sides will prevent unwanted and embarrassing situations in the future. In the later years of puberty, children may develop masturbating habits that are perfectly normal. In such situations, parents must let the children know that masturbation is a private issue and hence, be done in isolation.
• Another sex education tip is that parents must honestly answer every question their children ask. In the age of internet, a manipulative answer will not last long. Due to the lack of guidance by parents, children may start reading books and other material to satisfy sex related curiosity.
• The most obvious tip for sex education for children, especially teenage girls, is their puberty age. Mothers of teenage girls must prepare them mentally for the first period. For most parents, talking about puberty may be difficult, but they should compulsorily tell this to their children before the latter experience it. Do not leave them to make sense out of the experience without any guidance.
• Another important point in sex education for children is showing them the brighter side of long-term relationships and healthy marriages in which sexual acts have mere importance when compared with love and intimacy. Discussing the risk of STDs and their fatal consequences is a must for parents. Once guided by parents, children must also understand the sensitivity and severity of issues such as unprotected sex, inappropriate sexual behavior (watching porn, teenage sex) etc.