When is an appropriate age to start talking to children about sex? 

Some parents believe it is best to wait till at least puberty to start discussing such matters, insisting it preserves the innocence of childhood. 

Others think it is better to have age appropriate conversations with children when they are young. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, writer Genevieve Roberts said she firmly falls into the latter camp. 

“Research has shown that introducing children to the idea of sex right from the start - not shirking around it - leads to [them] feeling like they are more in control of their body,” she said. 

“They can say no till later; fewer STIs and teenage pregnancies. 

“So actually, knowledge even for very young children is power.” 

Primary school children in class. Picture by: Alamy.com. 

Ms Roberts added that there is no need at a young age to “give them graphic details”. 

“It’s all done in a very age appropriate way,” she said. 

“I found it very interesting to learn that adult embarrassment is really unhelpful for children.”

IVF

For Ms Roberts, the fact that her two oldest children were conceived with a sperm donor meant she was particularly keen to explain the facts of life to them. 

“It’s really, really important that if you have a family like ours, that you don’t have this surprise later down the line that they’re donor conceived,” she said. 

“So, even before they could speak I was telling them how they were made. 

“I never wanted that to be a surprise for them.” 

The story of their conception is so completely “normal to them” that Ms Roberts began to wonder if they perhaps thought that was the only way babies were conceived. 

“That’s when I thought… they will learn this in the playground otherwise,” she said. 

“And you don’t know what other children are bringing to that, so I thought it was better for me to do it.”

The HSE has a 'Busy Bodies' rescource to help parents teach children about puberty and changes to their body.

Main image: A woman reads a book to children. Picture by: Alamy.com