WHAT CHILDREN KNOW | Talktoyourkids

What Young children know

Teens and Sex Ed

Studies have shown about half of students thought they received sufficient information about puberty, male & female body parts, & menustration
The participants reported never hearing of sexual diseases like chlamydia, gondyloma, and HPV
Adolescents who attend high poverty schools:
- have lower quality sexual education teachers than those in low poverty schools
- engaged in earlier and more risky sexual behavior

How much does my child know?

Most parents have reported talking with their younger children (ages 2-6) about pregnancy and the biological differences between boys and girls
- From these conversations, most children know that a man and woman is needed to make a baby, but most children did not have know of how this occurs
- Children understood physical intimacy such as kissing and cuddling but had no knowledge of intercourse or sexuality

Where do babies come from?

Typically, children learn the answer to this question at various ages depending on each child's development.

Each stage of understanding is listed here:

Belief that the babies have always existed,
but they were living somewhere else
Belief that God, doctor, or daddy makes a baby and puts it inside the mom
Belief that a seed was planted in mom's tummy
Naive awareness about biological process of conception
Early understandings about egg and sperm
Understanding that ovum and sperm are discrete entities and both combine to become another unique human being

For more information about how to handle talking about this topic with your child, visit the parent conversations page!