Talking with Your Child About Sexuality

Talking to our children about sexuality is not easy, especially in today’s digital world. But it can and should be done. In this episode we revisit some of the foundations needed for this conversation with our children.

As parents, talking to our children about sexuality may be a daunting prospect for many of us, and even embarrassing for some. How can we prepare ourselves for this task? What do we need to equip ourselves with for this “talk”?

In this episode, we discuss the principles and practical ways in which we can initiate this sexuality talk, or rather these talks, with our children from the time they are born to the age of 5 years or so.

How can we talk to our children in the age group of 6 to 9 years old about sexuality? How can we protect them from the possible harms that may be inflicted on them by others who approach them with less than noble intentions?

At 10 to 12 years of age, our children are on the cusp of puberty. And at this stage, a significant proportion of them will have been exposed to pornography, intentionally or otherwise. What can we as Catholic parents do to help them navigate the pre-pubertal years, and prepare them for the changes to be expected in puberty?

As our kids become teens, lots of changes, both physical and emotional, will be taking place in their lives. They are developing a mind of their own, and talking about sexuality, and indeed any topic at all, will be quite different from the stages we have discussed before.

Sex education is ubiquitous in many school systems today. One of the common questions that many parents wrestle with is this: should we let our children attend these in school? Or should we just rely on the catechism classes in church to do the job? Or should we simply be the ones to teach it at home?