Kids being encouraged to label their sexuality pre puberty

[HermioneWeasley]

Was talking with my son last night. He’s 14, nearly 15 and he was saying how lots of people in his year are bisexual (fine), and that X who thought he was asexual a few years ago has decided he is in fact bisexual and is really quite interested in a physical relationship now.

Well of course he is! He was a pre pubescent child before and now his hormones have kicked in.

Imagine having to unwind telling everyone you were “asexual”.

It’s absolutely brilliant that the kids are so accepting of same sex attraction, but nobody when they where wheeling out all the millions of sexualities and gender identities seems to have thought to say to these kids “oh, if you’re not attracted to anyone now that doesn’t means anything and is perfectly normal at your age”

Aaargh.

I get where you're coming from, its really good that people can be more open about their sexuality and I know that some people knew their sexuality long before puberty, but it seems to have swung the opposite direction where children are expected to understand their sexuality before they're even ready to have a relationship.

It's hard to articulate the concern without sounding like a "pearl clutcher" and I'm sure people will come over to say that but I know what you mean

That’s so bizarre and so far, not my experience. I have a 10 year old and he’s totally disinterested in girls (or boys!) at this stage, even though he says he’d like to get married and have babies one day.
Of course he’s asexual, it would be utterly bizarre if he wasn’t!

Yes, am totally with you. There seems to be a lot of pressure on children to put themselves into little sexuality boxes from a really young age, even before they're interested in sex.

Let kids be kids

DD10 asked me to define non-binary, trans, pansexual etc after a game she plays on Roblox (Adopt Me!) issued 'badges' representing different gender identities and sexual orientations for players to collect and display on their profiles. This game is played by really young kids for whom these issues are most likely way out of their realm of relevance and interest.
Nevertheless, pleased to have been able to explain the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity so she doesn't get saddled with any common misconceptions in this area later.