The Internet Is Going To Make The ‘Birds And The Bees’ Talk Even Harder

The ‘birds and the bees‘ talk has got to be hard for parents.

When I think about the fact that my little toddler angel is going to evolve into a raging hormonal teenager one day, I usually just put a pillow over my head and chant, no, no, no, no, no. I’m already having anxiety about the sex-talk and he’s only two.

Well, thanks to the Internet – times-are-a-changin’. I just can’t pretend that he is sweet and innocent forever, because he’ll probably have seen some Internet porn before he becomes a tween. Ahhh! My eyes! From Today Moms:

“This is not because 8-year-olds go looking for porn, it’s a function of what they’re shown on someone’s cellphone on the playground, what happens when they go out to the neighbor’s house,” said Gallop, a fervent proponent of reality-based sex education.

Cindy Gallop is CEO and founder of Make Love Not Porn, a website devoted to “correcting sexual misconceptions picked up by viewers of professional for-profit pornography.” It’s a resource for everyone – but also for parents who now have to not only tackle the issue of explaining to kids the importance of safe sex, teaching them how to respect themselves and others, teaching them that sexual feelings are normal, etcetera, etcetera. Parents also have to figure out how to explain that the masses of sexual imagery on the Internet doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s going on in real life – in real bedrooms. Oh God. Shoot me now.

“Too many young people start their sexual careers attempting to duplicate porn, not realizing that this model lacks so much,” noted sex educator and author Dr. Marty Klein recently wrote in the Huffington Post.

“With valuable face-to-face communication increasingly replaced by brief digital syllables … young adults’ ability to simply talk about what goes on in bed … is lagging further and further behind the needs of their sexual encounters ”” whether hookup or more intimate.”

Well, by my watch I have about a decade to prepare for this. Deep breaths.

(photo: photomatz/ Shutterstock.com)