Four year olds already curious about sex

Curiosity about sex is affecting very young children, with 61 per cent questioning their parents about it.

Of these children, 47 per cent were between the ages of four and five years. 

But despite their curiosity, parents don’t believe the best place for them to learn about sex is in the school classroom.

The approach and content of sex education in schools continues to be a topic of debate in Government. But has anyone asked the parents what they really want?

Sex education is not compulsory and parents do have the right to remove their children from classes.

According to research of 1,732 parents by a baby review website, 59 per cent of parents did not agree with sex education being taught in schools.

Of these parents, 41 per cent felt the subject was ‘inappropriate’ and 28 per cent said it should be the parent’s choice whether their child was educated on the subject.

The age of 13 was felt to be around the right time for the subject to be introduced in schools, with 65 per cent saying it should be about contraception.

Andy Barr, co-founder of BabyChild.org.uk who conducted the research says: “We wanted to ask parents how they felt with regards to sex education at school and the fact that it is a subject taught to many children. I am not surprised by the results of the study, with the majority of parents against the idea of sex education in a school environment. This is a sensitive subject and parents have their own way to approach it and want to control what their children know, even more so at a young age.”

“Children are constantly exposed to sexuality with TV, magazines and through various other forms of media. It’s our role to make sure that what they hear, know or learn is suitable for their age.”