The foremost goal as parents is to take care of their child's overall health and development, that includes physical, emotional, and sexual. The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of healthy sexual development to overall mental and physical well-being. Sexual Development or Sexual Health of children is considered to be important as well. Talking about Sexual health, education to promote it, thereby, remains a sensitive issue as well as a taboo in our society. Socialization of babies and children, especially sexual, should begin at home, where parents can have the opportunity to emphasize their most deeply held values regarding sexuality. From a very young age, children are exposed to messages about modesty, nudity and privacy. There are different responses displayed by infants, such as masturbation, displays of physical affection between parents, and the instructions that children receive about appropriate physical contact with others, which influences children about what sexuality is. Other things include understanding of gender differences and the response of parents to how children communicate about sexuality, and thereby teaching children about their values and expectations related to behavior.
The important role parents play in a child's sex education includes:
As a parent it is vital to educate your child about the sex education in order to keep them safe from future problems.
- Providing the family perspective-Parents as the primary caregivers of a child with whom the child has direct contact provides them with the perspective of their family system regarding sexuality, helping the children to make informed decisions regarding sexual behavior.
- Supporting a child's level of comfort in discussing sexuality-related issues-Some children are conditioned to not talk about sex-related issues as talking about sex is dirty, which is a wrong perspective. Parents need to support their children to come up and talk about their sex-related issues, that will improve the child's overall mental health.
- Maintaining an open dialogue with the school about the school-based sexuality education program-Parents should encourage the teachers to hold some education programs related to sexuality so that children feel free to discuss their sex-related issues.
- Responding positively and supportively to learning opportunities at home-Whenever a child is discussing any of their issues related to sex, parents need to support them, rather than interrupting or ignoring their issues.
- Attending school parent information meetings -Every school should conduct a parent-teaching meeting, where parents should encourage the school administration to hold workshops regarding sexuality and thereby supporting activities related to sexuality.
- Every parent, well-educated or not, can be equipped to teach and impart sound values to his child-Regardless of education level, parents need to educate their child regarding sexuality so that they are well-versed with the terms associated with sexuality.
Conclusion
Parents provide the best education to their children so that they can pursue their respective careers, but they also need to support them related to sexual development so that, along with other aspects of development, children can excel in their sexual development. We at Solh Wellness work to provide people with proactive mental health solutions before their situation worsens. To proactively support your mental health, try out several techniques and make self-care a priority in your daily life. Download the Solh Wellness App to start experiencing the transformation.
