Fingernail on 11/12/2021 at 16:22
By age 12 she should have had some sex education classes at school that explain the basics in terms of intercourse, periods, where babies come from etc. - this normally starts around year 5 (ages 9/10) and year 6, at least in England. In my experience of teaching this age group they are also normally told about gay people and different kinds of families (two mums/dads etc.), and are often aware of public gay figures like Lil Nas X or Freddie Mercury etc. through cultural osmosis, so it would surprise me if it's the first she's hearing about any of this really, unless she's a bit sheltered or oblivious? Primary schools even talk about Pride month in some cases.
At a private school where I work I even heard them discussing consent and boundaries of a healthy relationship at this age, which is great because that was NEVER talked about as far as I can remember when I was young. Things have definitely come on.
I would be interested in how much they go into LGBT+ issues at high/secondary school these days - we got nothing really, aside from stuff about STDs and AIDS, but I think it's legitimate to provide LGBT+ youth with information just as much as the heterosexual majority.
Gray on 26/12/2021 at 01:50
I think that shortly after posting this thread, and with your help, I realised the obvious answer: whatever is ok with her mother. Trouble is, her mother is a single parent of a 12-year-old, and two cats and a puppy. It is very difficult to have a conversation that is not interrupted three words into every sentence. If we had the time to have a proper conversation, I'd ask her what her opinion was, and how much I was allowed to say. I think I'd be able to talk about it if it was allowed. But perhaps best left to let her ask the questions.
I have to say though, I am a little bit impressed with TTLG for not letting this thread descend into trolling and cheap jokes and banning. I should perhaps not have posted it in the first place, but I'm glad it didn't go down in flames.
SD on 29/12/2021 at 07:52
I'm glad you posted it, Gray. It's refreshing to hear that there is still room for childhood innocence in this world.
DarkForge on 21/1/2022 at 10:35
Quote Posted by SD
It's refreshing to hear that there is still room for childhood innocence in this world.
Seconded. I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised that a 12-year-old apparently knows little on the subject. From what I witnessed around school in England (essentially the entirety of the 1990's), kids were generally a lot more clued up on this stuff than one might expect, and I guess I figured it would have only gotten worse since then with modern technology making things as readily accessible as they are.
But it sounds like you handled it fair enough. She asked a question, you gave her a simple and honest answer without over-complicating it.
Quote Posted by Starker
If you were lucky, your parents would "accidentally" leave a certain book lying around that specifically dealt with such topics.
That's essentially how I first learned about the basics, except that the book really
was left out accidentally when very young me was snooping around and happened to see it. I remember the book but I don't remember when I apparently said to my mum "I know how babies are made" and then proceeded to explain in specific detail. When she realised where I had learned all that stuff, I'm told that her only reply was "Ah, I forgot you could read..."
