They question when you should start talking about sexuality or suggest that they can wait a few years to talk to their 3 year old son or daughter. We give our children a sexuality education from the first time we hold them. From our role modeling, children learn how we behave and interact with people we love or how we react to sexist or aggressive comments, for instance. Role modeling is the most powerful tool we have to teach our children about the many of aspects about sexuality. Even though we behave automatically and unthinkingly in many situations, the impact is enormous in the mind of the little person beside us.
Sexuality education is an ongoing, lifelong process.
Our replies to children's questions, although important, are only part of how we influence our children. The messages we give are often unspoken. For example, a television show with a kissing scene might be switched to a different channel, turned off, the children whooshed out of the room or we may suddenly find a book more interesting or have something to do somewhere else in the home. If we become embarrassed, ignore or delay answering a question that makes us uncomfortable our children will quickly conclude that this is a topic that Mum or Dad do not want to talk about. The reason may be pure conjecture on the part of children.