If a child is old enough to ask an honest question they deserve an honest answer, children mature at different rates so I believe that important personal education such as this should be a parental decision. Unfortunately this only works with a science based education, if you're going to teach a child most religions ideas on sex then I would recommend never ever ever.

Not at all my I gave my son elementary school permission on 4th grade! Never used nick names for body parts with my kids...and answered their questions with the truth.... ex mother in law told me I was going to regret telling my daughter at 3 yrs of age that I did not find her on a cabbage pad or garbage....all I can say is that I did raise some good humans...

It starts pre-school in the home/family setting.

I was at a company picnic with my two youngest; at the time they were 4 & 3. There was a "merry-go-round" with live horses, and my 4 year old son asks in his loud voice - "Daddy, how can you tell the difference between boy horses and girl horses?" ALL the parents turned to me with huge grins, one of them said "Ya daddy, how can you tell?"

I responded to my son - "Well Chris, it's just like the difference between you and Amy." I got an applause from the crowd.

So ya, tell them in bits and pieces in accordance to their maturity level.

As soon as children can start to notice that people aren't homogenous they should start learning about it. Basic stuff when they are young leading up to more advanced things as they grow older. They should be educated in most everything by the time they hit their mid teens

As soon as they start noticing their 'parts'. Knowledge is power. Start educating them as early as it's clear they will understand. Keep it simple in the beginning. Keep the dialogue open. If the discussion starts early, it'll be easier to keep it going as they get older. If it isn't made a "taboo", it loses it's novelty. Okay, to an extent. Hormones are the debble.

As soon as they can realize the difference between sexes. Children need to know when and how it is inappropriate for adults and other people to touch their bodies.

Also, puberty would be a lot easier for people to handle if they have been warned about the strong emotions they will experience. Repetition of this education from a younger age gets them better prepared.

But some religions just want teenagers to get pregnant, marry, make more children to be indoctrinated

I think when they start having an interest. If someone lives on a farm it is easier.I don't have kids but I just met a 7 year old that wanted to show me her book. It was a basic book but had accurate medical school images of all the systems in the human body. I just asked her to show me the pictures she liked and we talked about them

I was always honest and direct with my girls, we called things by their rightful names. I have some amazing adult children now. You start from birth, it is normal and natural, our bodies are in no way shameful, they are beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Keep age appropriate and honest.

The kids are going to start hearing stuff by 9-some even earlier. After graduating from college I was a day care teacher for a year.. During recess two of my five year olds were giving and receiving a blow job on the playground. I kid you not. One of the kids saw Mommy doing it with her boyfriend. By the way back then Monadnock Community Day Care was located at the back of the only church in town.

If we can indoctrinate the pledge of allegiance in kids at 5, we can indoctrinate, "Whatever you do, do it safe. Whatever you do, know the risks. You only get one body" We can elaborate on that when the kids get older, but we have elbows and skin and plenty of anatomy that we can and should teach kids about. We can get to the genitals later, but the fundamentals are not surprisingly, the same. I feel like this may change some of the dynamic and prep children for more intelligent risk taking decisions in the future when it involves their bodies.

Middle school.

I have a 5yo and a 3yo. They know they were grown in my belly and that my eldest was a vaginal birth and my youngest was csection. Now, naturally they don't have a full handle on the concept at these ages but more than most kids. Personally, I rather teach my children the basics so they are comfortable with asking questions in sex ed at school as opposed to feeling bombarded with information.

I suspect that it would depend on the child, the child's parents, and the circumstances that child lives with... especially the community in which that child lives. That's what makes it tricky trying to teach it in schools. Still, those things are presented to children pretty early on... television, videos, games, and of course, friends. So as soon as they start talking about it, it's probably the right time to start teaching.

Any age has its way of learning. And the teaching should be adapted to this. Also sex education should be introduced in the early stage if tough in the right way. Not teaching these things means create taboos on them. Better to be open and understand from the beginning what they are.

I personally have always felt that if a child is old enough to ask the question he/she is old enough to get an age appropriate answer. I have never made any topic off limits or taboo. As they have moved in to the teenage years, I’ve had to approach some topics myself, much to my 16 year old son’s dismay.

It should definitely be done in grade school. As well it should be a public conversation. Any parent not willing to teach facts (i.e. safe practice, natural processes, risks, etc.) is committing child abuse/neglect. Especially in the case of not acknowledging the benefits of protection or pressuring/guilting their child into repressing these things its cruel and dangerous. Therefore it makes sense to teach these things to prevent said abuse. A non abusive parent would be perfectly fine with a fact based education of sex and safety. Now, specifically the best time and method of teaching is something I wouldn't know for sure but I'd think middle school because, as a guy, I know what I was like and would say that's about when bad choices can start being made. I might also point out the way it's currently taught seems to be intended to make kids very phobic of sex(due to the very thorough curriculum for stds) so some adjustments might still need to be made.

I could say the first years of grade school, if not earlier. As per myself - I selfeducated myself in 1-2 grade. No parent-talk - books only, mostly children-targeted encyclopedic type about the antomy related stuff, but also one adult oriented (the only one without any illustrations) - that I read mid-2nd grade - actually I still keep it to give it to my children some day - it was a book about sex from psychological and social perspective, very well written, describing things as healthy and unhealthy relationships,sexual temperaments, sexual malfunctions and so on. Great read (and it was SOVIET!!! - unbelievable). In general I approached the matter as any other topic of knowledge and regard it as such still.
In my eyes sex is a completely normal human activity, not vice, sin or something like that and should not be a taboo. On top of that, sexually (and socially in this regard) literate children are much more protected from sexual predatory behavior than the ignorant ones. Thus the earlier - the better.

I would say from when they can talk, teach them their correct anatomy and what counts as appropriate touching. A lot of children cannot tell when they are being molested because they do not have the vocabulary.

I agree with the poster that when kids ask an honest question they deserve an honest answer at a level they can understand.

It’s a continuum. It should always be an open conversation that progresses naturally as they age and gain experience.

Both my daughters were taught anatomy with all other words age specific. ...now ages 42 and 23 they are normal functioning Atheist women. ...telling a 2 year old child : " daddy's have seeds mommy's have eggs, mommy's ask daddy's to put seeds inside mommy's making eggs grow into new babies ....." pointing to each anatomical name: elbow ear eye penis vagina labia lips wash here rinse there potty here so no more diapers are needed. ....nose know hair think feel feet toes ankle shoes socks shirts stay warm use sunblock don't sunburn good touch bad touch watch out for strangers pedophile rapist priests....just do it in a even kind soft voice parents and use books like OUR BODIES OURSELVES for 9 year olds and teens teach non-bullying and self defense in school

Slowly, steadily & age appropriately from grade-school on as part of a health/science-based curriculum. We have bodies, as do other animals, that is a fact. We reproduce sexually as do many other animals, that is a fact (& one that many children on farms learn very young). There are health consequences for many actions that we take, sexually, socially (drugs & alcohol), hygienically, that is a fact. Real science-based education that takes into account age appropriateness & understanding levels should be a no-brainer!

From birth. My son learned at an early age not to ask a question if he didn't want to know the answer. Nothing was ever off limits. When it comes to sex if you can't have an adult conversation about sex you have no business having it.

With your own kids, Age appropriate information at all ages! If they are old enough to ask they are old enough to know. Conversations about privacy and private parts, that boys and girls have different parts, may start when they are leaving the diaper stage. Talks about respecting your own body and how you don’t touch people who don’t want to be touched. There are “where do babies come from” talks and talks about feelings. Conversations about physical and emotional consequences of sexual activity. As kids get older the conversations are more specific. And at every stage you remind them to “make good choices!”

Some point the child asks why am I me ? How did I get made . Or school age which ever happens first

The UUs have a program they call "OWL" -- Our Whole Lives. I think there are multiple age-appropriate programs, first grade, 8th grade, some in between. What little I have seen of it makes me heartily wish I'd been exposed to such healthy information when I was young.