There is a great movement afoot in our mass media to bring back that old hush, hush business of the birds and the bees into the open. Where we used to protect our children from all knowledge of this important business, we now seem inclined to expose them to a deluge of fact at the drop of a question. There is much to recommend this new approach to sex education, and yet I think it is doubtful business to jam these facts down a child’s throat long before he is ready to accept and understand this complex area of life. It seems to me that too many parents answer questions that the child really hasn't asked at all. I like to recall the story of the little boy who came home and said "Mother, where did I come from?" The mother sat the child down, asked father to join the conversation and together they gave the child a lengthy, clinical lecture on the business of reproduction. At the end of the long chat the father inquired of the boy why he had asked at that particular time on that particular day, where he had come from. The boy replied, "Well, that new kid up the block told me he came from Halifax and I was just wondering where I came from". Be honest with children, by all means, but answer the questions they ASK not the questions you THINK they have in mind.
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