Never too early to talk about sex to kids

A primary schoolteacher's conversation with the mother of one of her students has gone viral because of the topics they discussed. Snapshots of the WeChat interaction show the mother complaining that it is too early for the teacher to be discussing pregnancy and anatomical differences between boys and girls to a class of 9-year-olds; she even said she would raise the issue with the headmaster.

The mother's concern is understandable. She wants to protect her child from sex-related discussions so early in life. However, she fails to realize that sex education can help protect the child.

Almost every year, there are reports of girls, some as young as 6, being sexually abused. In 2013, it was reported that a 9-year-old girl in Xinyi, Guangdong province, had been sexually abused by her neighbor for three years but was too innocent to know what was happening.

As a popular saying goes: "You might think the child is too young to receive sex education, but the devil never thinks a child is too young to be violated."

However, proper sex education can help keep children safe. By letting children know how they should seek help if someone tries to sexually molest them, we can protect children from sexual abuse.

In the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education issued in 2009, UNESCO clearly recommends that sex education should start at the age of 5 and continue until adolescence.

Therefore, instead of opposing sex education in school, parents should welcome it and cooperate with schools by imparting sex education at home too. Parents are young children's first teachers and teachers for life. It is parents' responsibility to fulfill their teaching duty.

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