Parents Tip : Sex Education for Children

It is just reminder that pupils always have questions about the body structure and function that are not usually answered in texts designed for class use – questions about the reproductive organs and about the “facts of life.” Teachers can cooperate with parents in the matter of sex education in a number of ways.

Ideally, sex education should be given in the home from the time the little child asks his first question about how babies are born. The part that home should play in teaching the child about life and the beginning of life is indeed important. Unfortunately, many parents feel unable to do this reaching adequately.

Those parents who realize that their children need guidance but feel adequate to give it will often turn to the school and to the teacher for help and advice. The well-informed teacher can do much to help this parents, both though individual conferences and through initiating P.T.A or parent study-group programs.

In planning a P.T.A or parent study-group program, it might be wise to make use of guest speaker. Some good resource persons for a program on sex education are a physician who works with teen-agers, a psychologist or psychiatrist, or a teacher of human-relations or family-living courses.

Because many parents find it difficult to talk to their adolescent children about sex or to answer questions, they appreciate knowing about books or pamphlets that can be of help.

Explaining Menstruation

Although many girls begin to menstruate around the age of twelve or thirteen, some begin much earlier and some much later. Since the age range for the first menstruation is wide, many girls may have their first period at school as early as the fifth- or sixth-grade level. Even if they have been well prepared by their mothers for the onset of menstruation, this first occasion may evoke anxiety. Then, too, it is quite possible that some girls may not fully understand what is happening.

In the event that menstruation should occur for the first time at school, some possible course of action should be thought out in advance. Perhaps the school nurse can be called upon to provide a sanitary pad and to offer explanation and reassurance. If necessary, she might have to explain in a brief and matter-of-fact way such facts of menstruation as these:

Physical maturity for a girl means that her reproductive organs (ovaries) have developed the power to mature or ripen the ova, or egg cell, which contain the germ of a new life. An egg leaves one of the ovaries each month and travels down the Fallopian tube to the uterus. The uterus is a pear-shaped organ especially designed to serve as a sort of nest where a new baby can grow if egg is fertilized.

As soon as the egg leaves the ovary, the blood supply to the uterus is increased so that in case the egg is fertilized, there will be plenty of nourishment for the developing baby. When the egg is not fertilized, the extra blood sent to the uterus is not needed, so it is discharged through the vagina. This is the menstrual flow. It usually lasts from three to five days, but it may last for longer or shorter time.

Such as explanation can be given in a way that the youngster can easily understand. Questions should be encouraged and answered in a straightforward manner, without hint of mystery or embarrassment. Menstruation is a healthy aspect of normal development of a girl. Therefore, the adult who explains it to her can tacitly indicate that this is a sign of growth one can be proud to have achieved.