It’s as old as the human
race, and we all know that most people do it. There was a time in the
not-so-distant past when most folks had the dignity to be somewhat discreet
about the whole thing.
Those days are long over.
A teacher at a private school in Minneapolis took a group of
middle and high school students, some as young as eleven, on a fieldtrip to a
sex shop called the “Smitten Kitten.” My daughter and I had our own little educational
moment when we stumbled upon two teenage girls on the verge of “it” in the dark
corner of a store recently.
One is confronted with “it” in slick advertisements depicting
attractive fifty-something couples. As the blissful twosomes occupy themselves
with adolescent-like public displays of affection, the narrator of the
commercial does his level best to discourage men who may be in need of a
particular product from “stopping so they can find a bathroom” or “pausing to take
a pill.” Rather, they are encouraged to “make the moment right”.
Do the makers of those little blue pills really intend for
couples to “make the moment right” at the ballpark, or the symphony or while
watching a movie in a park with children present?
Seriously?
The sad fact is that our society is obsessed with sex and if
you don’t have a conversation with your kids about it, you can bet someone else
will, and it likely won’t be the conversation you would have had with them. After
four kids and countless years working with other people’s kids, I have learned
that there is no one-size-fits-all method when it comes to the when and how of
talking to kids about sex. But after some trial and error I do have some
recommendations:
Set yourself up as an expert on the topic-
Give accurate information from day one. Don’t give into the
temptation to call vaginas woo-woos and penises wee-wees. Call parts what they
are. Also avoid telling your preschooler some half-baked fable about where
babies come from. You should not tell
them everything all at once. I am all for vagueness and ambiguity with children
under five. That said, what you do tell them should be factual and accurate. This
will set you up as an authority that understands the subject, rather than an ill-informed
bumbler trying desperately to avoid a tough subject.
Don’t wait too long, because kids talk-
We learned this one the hard way. Our then almost eight-year-old
son announced one evening that he knew everything there was to know about sex.
To our horror we discovered that he did indeed know quite a lot, most of it
wildly inaccurate and kind of gross. The kid down the street, whose Dad
(unbeknownst to us) watched a LOT of porn, told Alex everything he had learned
from “his Dad’s shows”. My husband took our son camping the next day and set
the record straight but the damage was done. If your kid attends public school
or they play with kids in the neighborhood you probably need to explain the
basic mechanics of sexuality sometime between the ages of five and seven.
Don’t be afraid to link sex and marriage-
Separating sex from marriage has done nothing for anyone and
is wrecking havoc on every part of our society. Stressing the fact that sex is
for marriage is not enough. Our kids and our culture need more examples of
happy, healthy, distinctly Christian marriages.
Get help if you need it.
Monitor what schools are teaching about sex-
Most schools attempt to teach so-called values-free sex
education. This works okay when the instructors are discussing the changes that
occur at puberty. It gets a bit dicey once they get into the specific’s of the
when, where, how and why of sexuality. Most programs mix messages, telling kids
that sex is a big responsibility but that they should wait “until they feel they
are ready.” They forget that few teens are mature enough to admit that they are
not ready for something they really want to do. Most schools require parents to
view the curriculum to opt their kids out of sex education. I have attended dozens
of these pre-view nights through the years. I have never once seen more than a
handful of Moms (never Dads) at these events. At the very least, you should
find out what your kids are learning and talk with them about it.
Drag God into it-
God cares deeply about every aspect of our lives, including
how we conduct ourselves sexually (1st Thessalonians 4:2-8). Sadly,
even in many Christian homes God’s perspective on sex is seen as nothing more
than an archaic throwback to a simpler time. We’ve adopted this view to our own
detriment. Single parenthood, divorce, abortion, some diseases and a whole lot
of heartbreak are quite often the direct consequences of ignoring God’s
directives concerning sexuality.
If you really love your kids, prove it by telling them things
their sex education teacher won’t. Tell them that sex is a gift from God that
has tremendous potential for both good and evil. Tell them that sex is
incredible in the context it was intended (marriage). Tell them that outside of
the context it was intended it can easily morph into a soul-sucking,
life-destroying monster. Warn them of the dangers and prepare them to maturely
handle the responsibility.
