What Your Child Needs To Know About Sex (And When)

A straight-talking guide for parents

by Fred Kaeser, Ed.D.

Take the Parent Sex Education Quiz: Are You an Approachable Parent?

By Fred Kaeser, Ed.D. on January 10, 2012 in What Your Child Needs To Know About Sex (And When)

I am both a parent and professional sex educator. I have been a parent for more than nineteen years and I have been a sex educator for more than thirty, and I can tell you one very simple fact that I am sure of. Parents can have more influence on their children's sexual behavior than any sex education program could ever hope to have. Read More

Define: Child

Submitted by Mariah on January 10, 2012 - 9:22pm.

Please define "child." I think I would have a different approach with these questions with my third-grader of age 8 and my tenth-grader of age 15.

What did you have in mind when penning these questions? There is a universe of difference in how and what one talks about with kids, dependent on age and maturity.

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Thanx for your comment...i

Submitted by Fred Kaeser, Ed.D. on January 11, 2012 - 8:02am.

Thanx for your comment...i agree that your conversation w/ children varies according to different developmental levels...but what doesn't vary are the common core concepts that as a parent u want to build on as your child grows and matures...so, for example, both an 8 yr old and 15 yr old need to know about sexual intercourse...what u teach them however in terms of content will of course vary...or, both need to learn about the importance of love, respect, and trust...but again, the specific content will vary...the same w/ respect to homosexuality...and so it goes w/ many other broad concepts...
So, irrespective of my child's age, there are various concepts that pertain to sex and sexuality that as a parent I want to address...what I teach them about each concept will vary dependent upon their age and developmental capacity...Fred

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Fred Kaeser, Ed.D., is the former director of health for the NYC Department of Education. He is the author of What Your Child Needs To Know About Sex (And When).

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