Do 8 yr olds know about sex?

[Villanellebelle]

Following on from another thread where the general consensus was that 8 yr olds know about sex, I was quite surprised. I have an 8 yr old boy and it didn't cross my mind that I should be having the talk with him yet! Should i be? What do you tell them at this age? Any good resources out there?

I've always talk to my DD about it.She knew about periods as a toddler,on of those that follows you everywhere.
She seemed to know about mating early on(friends with farmers children) .
I've just been matter of fact,no drama answering questions.
Her getting periods and her anatomy at 9as she showed signs of puberty.
The only 'talk' I've ever had was the one about porn,expectations and anal sex last year as she was 16(might have had it earlier but she's not sexually active).
She knew a lot about it and is very clear that no one does anything she doesn't want.
Talking as she asked has meant that sex and sexuality are things she can talk to me about in a non embarrassed way.

Without trying to be pedantic I do find it amusing when people are absolutely certain their children do not k ow about sex. When I was 10 I asked my mum what a virgin was. She sort of gave me some vague answer which didnt tell me anything.

I did know what a virgin was. I was sexually abused at the age of 7, I knew all manner of sexual stuff. I think I just wanted to be able to talk about it.

So just because they havent said 'I know x'- doesnt mean they dont.

To the pp who said she wanted to wait until her DS is 13. DD had reproduction in Y7 at school, in a very explicit manner, far more than what the sex Ed talk in Y6 was. And as it was part of science lesson there is no way to exclude a child compared to the lesson in primary where you can withdraw your child.

Also in my opinion each child should know what puberty means to a body, girls do get their period while still in primary school and especially boys should know not to say anything stupid or make funny remarks about growing breast etc. I would also think by 10/11 lots of boys do have already some kind of physical changes.

Some children start puberty at 8 and most 8 year olds are around older children up to 11 in school and also some of their peers will have older siblings - whom may have taken it upon themselves to tell them things. My children know they will get the truth from me, and I answer their questions in context, in an age appropriate way, scientifically and socially & emotionally. I think it's really important as apparently the average age of children having viewed porn is 11 - be it on a friends phone in school/youtube or by accident searching on the internet. I think it's important to educate them well enough so that porn doesn't, they need to know that it is not real . But if you're not sure, the NSPCC would probably have the gold standard answer on this.

Mine did. Dd was familiar with animals giving birth when she was a toddler so questions came naturally. Before 4 she knew the mechanics, iirc she was closer to 5 when she realised it was the same process for human conception. Dsd was slightly older but not by much.

It doesn't take away their innocence. It is actually possible to discuss the mechanics in a factual manner without an in-depth conversation about sex for pleasure.