Firstly, I want to recognize that the first group had a fantastic class planned for us last week! Thank you for being one of the first presentations and setting some great examples for us to use in the coming weeks.
This post discuses what the appropriate age group might be to first introduce children to the topic of sexual education. The current curriculum of British Columbia introduces concepts of sexual education in grade 6, but some parents and policy advocates are recommending a younger age – as early as Kindergarten. Two developers from Vancouver have recently developed an animated application for children ages 5 – 12 that teaches about ‘where babies come’. These developers are trying to work with the Ministry of Education to get the application into schools and promote sexual education at an earlier age.
I heard about this issue last weekend while listening to the CBC radio. I immediately thought of our physical education course and wondered ‘What would Steve think about this issue?!’ In my opinion, it is a very young age to introduce children to the topic and I would be worried about the ramifications in an institutional environment. Is the subject mater too mature? Does it open up ideas too early? Will these children be too comfortable with sexual topics? How will that affect their interactions with other peers- bullying, sexual harassment, earlier sexual experiences.
An earlier introduction to this topic in school does allow children to understand it in a realistic perspective rather than a made up tale, for example, the general stork and baby image. I do believe that we need to be real with children and not censor every topic. Children do have curiosity about the world and we should honour that and teach them the truth.
You can view the video for the application below.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/teaching-kids-about-sex-through-a-mobile-app-1.3222464
Hi Julie,
Thanks for the very interesting, informative and relevant posting! Yes this is a very controversial subject and I confess I’m on the fence about what the appropriate age is to introduce children to this topic.
My sister’s 2.5 year old daughter is obsessed with babies and pregnant women. One day my niece said to me “I want to make a baby but I don’t know how.” I explained to her that she was too small to have a baby and that if she were to have a baby in her belly, it would be larger than her stomach and she wouldn’t be able to carry it. I’m not sure if that was the right answer, but I was trying to think of something to say that a 2.5 year old would logically understand.
It is a very difficult subject and on one hand I think that we are doing a disservice to children by lying to them, making up stories, or sheltering them from the truth. On the other hand I am also concerned with the possible outcomes from such early education. Imagine if a young girl desiring to have a baby received this kind of education and decided she wanted to go out and make her own baby. As the age of puberty continues to decrease, with menstruation at the age of 8 being a new norm, I think that this could be a very real and scary outcome.
Also, children are naturally curious to engage in ‘adult’ activities, such as drinking and smoking. We can’t completely sensor children from the media, such as song lyrics, TV shows and advertising that promotes sexual experiences. However, by explaining to them how to make a baby and how to engage in sexual intercourse, we are sowing the seeds for curiosity and exploration. The desire to imitate and engage in ‘adult’ behavior is already present in children. I see sexual education as a vehicle through which children can connect the dots from a superficial knowledge about the subject, to knowing exactly how it’s done.
In terms of sexual harassment and sexual assault, I think earlier education is a good thing for children to understand and to mitigate the damages from such occurrences. I knew someone that didn’t recognize that they had been assaulted until they learned about sexual abuse in grade 1. Currently sexual abuse is taught in Kindergarten in BC. However, this information is quite different from the curriculum currently being proposed.
Perhaps the only way we can truly know is to introduce it at a younger age as a study and see what happens. That being said I don’t know if this should be done at the pan-Canadian level in all elementary schools.
Angela (group B)