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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be really bugged by this

45 replies

ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:30

im not really into professional moaning/taking offence for the sake of taking offence but this has really irritated me.

was watching come dine with me on channel 4 tonight with youngest (almost 8) - it finished at six thirty. yes that's six thirty. the credits roll..then there's an advert. for the sex education show. "how big will a boy's penis get" and "is it safe to have sex when im on my period". now i have no issue with the sex education show, it starts at 9 - if your kids are up at 9 pm then presumably they are old enough or you have decided you dont mind them watching the programme.

i find it really really REALLY inappropriate that they use THAT advert at half six. i mean fgs my kid is 8 on tuesday and i dont want her saying oy mum so how big CAN a boys penis get? never mind the 5 or 6 year olds that might want to watch an inoffensive cooking programme at half six and not expect that advert afterwards.....aibu? (no im not!)

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Bit0fFunnyBunny · 16/04/2011 23:32

Yeeerrs. You are probably not being unreasonable. I can see how that would be awkward.

monkeyplayszeebongos · 16/04/2011 23:32

most of it goes over their heads - blimey the stuff we must have heard and our parent's didn't freak

FabbyChic · 16/04/2011 23:33

Sorry I thought your thread said buggered.

Oops. Wrong forum.

worraliberty · 16/04/2011 23:36

I don't know really.

Most of it does go over their heads but if it doesn't, and they ask questions then it means they are curious about what is afterall, a completely natural thing.

Sex ed is taught in a lot of schools in year 2 now and they do cover erect penises and all that malarky.

I can still understand where you're coming from though...I wouldn't expect it at 6.30pm either.

HipHopopotomus · 16/04/2011 23:36

I saw the same ad and was a little Hmm!about it. Didn't really want DD (3) to start asking what sex was! She didn't - but I agree the promo did seem out of place at that time

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:37

hehe fabbychic no that's a seperate thread! well at almost 8 yo it doesn't go over their heads its - looks at me - someone said sex - looks at OH -someone said sex - it makes the whole point of a "watershed" totally ridiculous. and its not about it being awkward. i will tell her when i choose to tell her not when some reporter with a bad bob chooses to say penis or sex on a period at half six. as i have said i dont have an issue with the show and i think its probably very helpful/informative/wank material for kids of certain age but to advertise it using that kind of hmmm "wording" at half six is too much imo.

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TransatlanticCityGirl · 16/04/2011 23:40

I haven't seen the ad, but if it was in an educational context (not the lewd kind of sexy ads you often see on the telly) the I don't see the problem.

Your 8 year old has the right to ask how big can a penis get. And in fact, may have already discussed it with friends, for all you know!

I think this is about how uncomfortable YOU would feel, not what is right for your child.

Why do parents hate talking to their kids about sex so much?!?!?!?!

Bit0fFunnyBunny · 16/04/2011 23:43

I don't think they do, necessarily, TCG- they just don't want the pace forced by teatime adverts that they aren't expecting.

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:43

an eight year old can say how big can a cock get and that's ok. wow. i must have been transported to a different planet.

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Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:44

i will pop straight out and get her a six pack, a 50 cent cd and some condoms, after all, im being OTT, she is 8!

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Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:45

i wasnt allowed to watch grange hill...i guess times have changed

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MaisyMooCow · 16/04/2011 23:49

OP, YANBU. I've seen the advert and it really is a bit much considering the content. Like you say it's advertising a programme that's on after the watershed so they really need to be careful what they say in the advert showing it at that time of day. I would be concerned too if a young child was watching.

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:50

i feel a bit like im being pigeonholed - i have NO issue with the programme itself at all - its on late enough - it was the advert at half six after bloody come dine with me!

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Bit0fFunnyBunny · 16/04/2011 23:51

I've always been open and happy to talk about sex in an age-appropriate context with my daughter- she was present at the birth of her younger sister when she was four, for a start, and I talked about periods with her when she saw me (discreetly) changing tampons etc. But I wouldn't have liked being put on the spot by an overly-explicit television trailer.

worraliberty · 16/04/2011 23:53

I would have known nothing about sex if it wasn't for my older sister.

My parents were very old fashioned Irish Catholics and my Mum wouldn't even say the word 'period'...she called them 'the other things' lol.

As a result, I swore i would always be open with my kids and answer any questions they had in an age appropriate way.

So why the fuckety fuck...when my son (4yrs at the time) asked "Mum, what's a lesbian?" Just as Coronation Street was starting...did I reply "Errr it's a type of cat, son"?? Hmm

In my defence he was my eldest child and the old Coronation St cat was walking across the rooftops in the opening scene.

I'm just eternally grateful he didn't shout out "Mum, can you get the Lesbian out of my sandpit...she's pooed in it again!!" Blush

TransatlanticCityGirl · 16/04/2011 23:55

BitofFunnyBunny It's a lot better for the pace to be forced by the TV adverts when you are there in the room ready to explain, than by his/her friends or schoolmates when you are not...

ExeterisEasy it's perfectly normal for children to be curious about the human body at a very young age. doesn't matter if you were born in the 50s or the 00s. the only difference is in the 50s the body was a dirty secret. Wondering about simple questions like how big a penis can get (NOT a "cock" as you call it) it nowhere near in the same ballpark as wanting to have sex.

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 16/04/2011 23:56

argh, its not that im not prepared to answer any questions - i AM - i posted on here last year when my daughter - same one im talking about now - had a delightful flash of penis from a lovely (not lovely) boy in her class - i answered it - to the extent that i want a 7 year old (she was 7 then) to know about. i just really feel its not OK to have her say to me just before bed..."what does sex on a period mean". i didnt decide that my child was old enough to ask or know the answer to that question. a wanky advert at half six put that in our household. the sex education show is aimed at teenagers. so dont put it on at half six after come dine with me.

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Bit0fFunnyBunny · 16/04/2011 23:58

Thing is though, I doubt that most eight year olds would be banging on about hard cocks in the playground without this stuff being ubiquitous on pre-watershed television. Which is ironic, as I believe that a lot of the subject matter of the Sex Ed Show will be about challenging the premature sexualisation of young people from the media.

ILoveTheSunToo · 16/04/2011 23:59

erm - tough one. I know what you mean about awkward conversations (my 3yr old asked what my sanitary towels were for today Confused) and I guess with kids difficult issues will come up when you least expect it. However, the producers could have chosen a different clip to put on at 6.30. Maybe they were thinking that the teenagers who they want to target, will be off doing more interesting things at 9pm Winkso wanted to grab their attention now, whilst they can. Did she say anything in response to the advert then???

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 17/04/2011 00:01

when i was 8 i played with barbies and wrote stories about butterflies. im 30, it wasnt that long ago. im not being unreasonable. i know im not. shes 8. they grow up quick enough ffs. 8. not 18.

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Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 17/04/2011 00:02

she asked me what sex on a period was.

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pebbles1972 · 17/04/2011 00:03

Ooooh I was a bit gah at it too OP...cept I was sat with my dad at the time and buried my head in the most interesting article about gardening for the retired Confused

I'm the least 'prudish' person you could meet - but I felt it definately inappropriate and weren't nipples mentioned too? ye gads

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 17/04/2011 00:06

ive cheered myself up by listening to pj & duncan on the ipod...god bless my sister for putting that on there. lets get ready to rumble shall we.

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howdoyoueatyours · 17/04/2011 00:10

YABU. It didn't say cock - it said period, sex and penis. All of which will have been heard in sex ed at school. If your 8 yo doesn't know about periods then they should - I knew a girl at school who was 9 when hers started. I think your annoyance it's a bit more to do with you being embarrassed than the terminology used. Has your dd had sex ed at school?

Original poster
ExeterisEasy · 17/04/2011 00:14

embarassed. yes your right. im bright red right now. get a frikkin grip. as i said earlier im happy to pop out tomorrow and buy her 6 cans of special brew, a copy of FHM/More and 3 fetherlite condoms, im fairly sure i know where the pregnant 14 year olds and their smackhead boyfriends hang out in the park, im there! I mean she's 8 - what am i playing at trying to keep her 8! hangs head in shame dumbass

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