How to explain paedophilia

[shouldhestay]

My 10 year old came to me last night and said that one of her friends told her that some adult men try and get children pregnant, and that she is worried about this.

She knows already about private parts of her body that she has the choice to say no if someone tries to hug / kiss her etc. I thought that would be enough for now.

How would you explain what a paedophile is to a ten year old??

I don’t think you need to explain it, she’s heard enough to know not all adults have good intentions. What she needs from you is to feel secure in knowing how to keep herself safe, what should she do if someone makes her feel uncomfortable? Who can she talk to about her worries. Making sure she knows her safety and comfort is more important than being polite. Esafety etc.

I doubt her friend gave her much context beyond isn’t this horrible so she may well be worried this is something that might just happen to her suddenly and that it’s really common. So make her feel confident in what to do if she’s ever uncomfortable but also reassure her.

Make sure she knows about the age of consent and consent in general. So sex is only for adults and you have to be 16 to decide to have sex. Her friend is right that sometimes adults try to have sex with children but this is illegal and the adult can go to jail for it. Also it’s illegal to make someone have sex when they don’t want to, and you can to to jail for that too.