Written by MLNP founder and CEO Cindy Gallop. Originally published September 15th, 2016.
“As someone who realized years ago through personal experience dating younger men that porn was becoming default sex education, and launched my site makelovenotporn.com specifically to combat this, I welcome the world finally waking up to the fact that today we must educate children about both sex and porn. On Tuesday, for example, a committee of British MPs published a report recommending that pornography should be taught as part of sex and relationships education in schools.
That said, the issue isn’t porn, but the lack in our society of an open, healthy, honest conversation around sex in the real world. If we had that, children and adults alike would be able to bring a real world mindset and context to the viewing of artificial entertainment. Here’s what needs to happen.
Sex education must start in the home.
Parents, if you want your children to have happy, fulfilling relationships and sex lives, please don’t leave sex education to school. You can’t begin having this conversation too early. I don’t necessarily mean you need to have the “big full-on conversation,” but more consider what you will do the very first time your child asks where babies come from, touches themselves or does something else sex-related.
The most important thing isn’t even what you say as much as how you say it. Never get visibly flustered or embarrassed; never get irritated or angry; don’t shut them up, close the conversation down or leave the room. Instead, respond to them openly, honestly and straightforwardly. By doing that, you open up a channel of communication between you that will always be there for them, and trust me — no matter how much they might appear to squirm when you talk to them frankly about sex and how to have a rewarding, healthy sex life, they will be secretly grateful to you for doing so.”
Go to Newsweek to read more of Cindy’s great advice on how to talk to kids about sex!
