What’s The Right Age to Talk to Kids About LGBTQ Relationships?

in #life6 years ago

Muslim mums protested

Last week a group of Muslim mums protested outside a primary school in Birmingham because there disagreed with a programme called ..... that taught kids about LGBTQ relationships. The Assistant Headteacher at that school is gay and had told this to the children. The school had 98% Muslim children and many Muslims (depending on interpretation of religious texts) believe that homosexuality is haram.
You can read the full news story here: https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/mums-protest-outside-school-for-promoting-homosexuality-to-their-kids_uk_5c4f0fb0e4b0e1872d45e941?ec_carp=8627258581540895670

“Do men get married to men?”

Mini Me 1 and Mini Me 2 are at primary school. This story got me thinking about the best age to tell kids about homosexuality. With my kids it happened organically. We were watching Couples Come Dine With Me on TV and one of the couples were two gay men. Mini Me 1 and Mini Me 2 were both surprised by this and asked “do men get married to men”? I replied “yes sometimes they do” and that was the end of the conversation. Then they’ve also asked me what gay meant and I gave them a simple explanation. I feel that it’s important for kids to know and helps to prevent homophobia as they get older.

Podcast clip

On this week’s podcast The Sisterhood of a MummyImperfect I spoke to my panel about this and also got several other mums opinions. Have a listen to the clip above.

If you’d like to listen to the rest of the episode click this link:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sisterhood-of-mummyimperfect-podcast/id1440539725?mt=2&i=1000429044339

Or

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-p7uqk-a68bd8

Also let me know your thoughts. When do you think is the best time to talk to kids about LGBTQ relationships? Or do you think it shouldn’t be spoken about until necessary?

MummyImperfect x

Sort:  

I agree .. it’s important for kids to know , but I think that a parent should be the one to tell their children.... I don’t think that it is appropriate, no matter what your feelings towards it are , a school teacher should not be having that discussion ... myself , I believe people will love who they want regardless of gender , nationality, etc .... but that should be a conversation I have with my children . .. at least that’s what I think .

Posted using Partiko iOS

Thanks for sharing your view @anonymity and I agree that parents should be the one to raise the subject with their kids. However the problem is that some parents don’t, or they teach negative attitudes towards the LGBTQ community and that might contribute toward homophobia later on. At least when they talk about it at school it normalises for everyone.

I know , but I feel like with anything else ... it’s up to the parent .... and we can’t tell people how to parent their children .... maybe schools should touch on the subject when the children are older ... like when they take health Ed. And the start discussing sex etc . But I wouldn’t want anyone discussing it besides me before than . I have had the conversation with my 8th grader and touched on the topic with my 5th grader .

Posted using Partiko iOS

It’s good you have talked to your kids about it. Thanks so much for reading and for sharing your views on here :)

I say let them ask on their own.

I would prefer not to expose them to the idea at all, but with acceptance of it being rammed down everyone's throat at every turn these days, it's hard to avoid. Not only that, but the push back against that is breading hate toward homosexuals. So as a fairly conservative, christian, parent, I have to try to explain to a young child how both sides of this are wrong. While homosexuality is sinful, and we are right to hate the sin, like any other, it's also sinful for us to hate those people because we are no better.

Thanks for reading and sharing your views on this. I think it’s ok to sometimes explain to kids that we don’t always agree with things that other people do but have to respect their choices.

Talking to kids about "hot button" topics is an incredible responsibility, especially in this global socio-political climate. I struggle with talking to my two littles about many of the difficult topics right now, including the different ways families can be made. I am glad you brought this topic to the forefront, as support and advice is always welcome!

Congratulations @mummyimperfect! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You made more than 54000 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 55000 upvotes.

Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:

Valentine challenge - Love is in the air!

Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!