I am a father of two young daughters. As a parent, I believe the right time to talk about sex is not one single day when children reach a certain age. We should begin one by one through small conversations and it should be done as they slowly grow. We can't risk it and wait until they ask everything or until they become teenagers. I think that will be already too late. As we all have internet at home it's easy to learn from the internet long before they learn from us. But we have to understand that internet has so many misinformation and we shouldn't rely on it.
One thing I have been practicing for a while, I let my daughters understand that they never have to hide anything from me or feel embarrassed and they can ask questions about any small or big matter. I believe if a child feels embarrassed to ask a parent, they will probably ask a friend or search online. But that's not the correct way to do it. I want my children to hear the truth from someone who loves them and wants to protect them.
I also think parents should also teach their kids about bad touch and good touch from the very beginning. We should not only teach what is right and wrong, we should also teach them how to notice when someone is trying to make them feel pressured or uncomfortable. This can help them to avoid dangerous situations. I have taught my daughters that if any adult asks them to keep a secret from their parents then they are already crossing a line.
Also, it's important to let the children know they don't owe anyone affection. Like it's not necessary to hug and kiss because it's someone elder. I have seen relatives expect it the most but I have never allowed such things. Respect should never mean giving up their own comfort I want them to know that saying "no" politely is not being rude.
As parents, my wife and I always try to stay careful with our own behavior. Like if children see us doing any kind of actions then they might learn from it. So, If they see us respecting each other then my kids will learn the same thing. So, I often try to give my daughter's knowledge about sex education but not the whole thing, I use some different words to describe so that they can understand indirectly. If I can't be vocal about it that much then I let my wife take the lead. It's important for both parents to coordinate in such sensitive matters.
Most importantly, I made sure my daughters know that any mistakes they make it will never make me love them less. I hope their first thought is, "I need to tell my father." That kind of trust is the greatest protection I can give them and building it starts long before any serious conversation. There's a cousin of mine who's daughter was still young and yet got pregnant at such an early age. It happened because she didn't know she could get pregnant if she gets physically involved. In the end, she ended up giving birth and currently staying with her father. Luckily she has a supportive family but everyone's luck isn't the same. To avoid such circumstances we should give proper knowledge about sex education to our children and break the taboo.
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