Yesterday, I had 500 of these red balls to play with. If you play paintball you may recognize them, they are actually paintball pellets. It was my first time playing paintball and it was fun yet tiring because I'm totally out of shape. It also made me appreciate those that serve and keep the world at peace. Getting hit by these paintball pellets hurt and the group I was playing with complained. I don't think the pain would even be close to a real life bullet. Anyways I will be sharing my thoughts on how early should someone learn about sex education.
Personally, I believe sex education should start at 3-5 years old. This is whenever the child is able to start speaking and conveying their thoughts. I feel that at this age the child should be able to roughly know their body and they should be able to tell their parents which part of their body they feel pain in. I don't remember if I ever learned the actual word when I was young. If I'm not mistaken, I called a penis pp.
I think how I learned sex education throughout my life fits with my thoughts on how someone should learn about certain topics of sex education. I think around elementary school is when I learned about HIV/AIDS. I think this is ok as well for this age. If I recall, there was also an option for parents to sign for their child not to learn or watch videos on this topic.
Then around middle school which was when I was like 11-14 years old, I finally learned about the birds and the bees. I remember the teacher explaining more in depth on the genitals, how a girl can become pregnant and about sexually transmitted diseases. I remember there was a funny video or explanation about how the sperm travels through and attaches to the egg. I feel that this was a good time because it's right around puberty and kids these age can understand and can be mature about the topic. I'm not a girl but I think this is probably the age to learn about their period. If I'm not wrong girls start getting them around this age so they need to know about the process and when to wear their sanitary pads etc.
Finally, high school (15-18 years old) is the time to go all out and finish the rest of the sex education. This is where I learned about a day after pill, birth control and the different contraceptive methods. I also feel like it's a good time to remind of the dangers of unprotected sex since there's cases where the highschoolers get pregnant or get horrible STDs. I also recall learning about the law for sex for minors and how it's illegal. It's also the age I learned about consent which is key for both parties to engage in the activity. I also remember learning about abuse and what was a healthy relationship.
What about you? How was sex education like for you growing up?
I'm still a bit sore from the paintball yesterday. Anyways, I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend.