Birds and bees: When to have THAT conversation?

IT'S the conversation parents dread most - and experts say we need to have it earlier and more than once. 

 

Teaching children about the "birds and the bees" has become more important amid rising levels of unsafe - and increasingly younger - sex among teenagers.

The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) said one-on-one sessions between parents and children remains the most potent weapon against unsafe sexual activity.

The higher risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy means new public health campaigns are needed, the commission said.

By Year 10, 32 per cent of students in New South Wales have had sex, CCYP research shows. Nearly 40 per cent of sexually active teens did not practise safe sex.

Gregor Macfie, CCYP director for policy and research, said schools were doing an excellent job teaching sexual health to the majority of teens.

But the age at which information was given may need to be re-examined, he said.

"I think we do have to look at what age the messages are targeted," Mr Macfie said.

"We need to build the message at the appropriate age. One of the things we have been thinking of is talking to them before they move into adolescence." The age at which girls go through puberty has plummeted and is a partial reason for earlier sexual experimentation, psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said.

He also believes family breakdown, media bombardment of sexual images and a need for more sex education are other factors leading to a drop in the age of first sex.

The Department of Education, which covers reproduction and health in the Personal Development, Health and Physical Education syllabus (PDHPE), said schools begin general discussions in early primary school. 

The current course was introduced in 1999 and is compulsory for students from kindergarten to Year 10.

However parents uncomfortable with the topic can withdraw their child.

"Schools are encouraged to collaborate with the parent community about content and the nature of the sexual health education program," a department spokesman said. "Schools, parents, doctors, sexual health government and non-government organisations are responsible for educating young people about sex."

Parramatta mothers Serpil Ozkan and Priyanka Aggarwal said they would want help from teachers to guide their children through the tricky talk when they are old enough.

Ms Ozkan, who has twin 17-year-olds as well as Aydin, 13 months, said she was too uncomfortable to broach the topic of sex with her older children. "I am too shy. It is not easy for parents," Ms Ozkan, 36, said.

Ms Aggarwal, mother of two-year-old boy Nihaal, felt questions on how babies are made should begin anywhere between ages six and 10.

The CCYP's latest study, A Picture Of NSW Children, found effective health campaigns had reduced smoking and drinking in teens.

Child smokers (aged 12 to 17) have plunged from 27 per cent to 9 per cent since 1984.

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