Three Essential Points Schools Should Not Ignore

Sex education in primary school is often the subject of debate, uncertainty, and misunderstanding. However, when approached with care, clarity, and respect for children’s developmental stages, it becomes a powerful educational tool that supports emotional well-being, healthy relationships, and personal autonomy.

In primary education, sex education is not about explicit content. It is about helping children understand themselves, their emotions, their bodies, and their relationships with others in a way that is age-appropriate, inclusive, and grounded in respect.

This article outlines three fundamental principles that should guide sex education in primary schools, for educators, families, and institutions seeking a balanced and effective approach.

Supporting Autonomy in Primary School Sex Education: A Right and a Process

One of the key articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly refers to the promotion of progressive autonomy: a step-by-step learning process through which children come to recognise themselves as rights-holders

From the perspective of sex education, this autonomy translates into offering children clear, accurate, and truthful information about the changes that accompany growing up.

Projects like InLudus exemplify how structured approaches can support children in understanding their bodies and rights.”

For example:

• why baby teeth fall out around the age of six
• what a nocturnal emission is, which may occur around nine or ten years old
• how to name genitals using correct scientific terms, without resorting to euphemisms that may—often unintentionally—suggest that sexuality should be hidden or minimised

Appropriating this knowledge does not simply expand children’s understanding; it empowers them in relation to their own bodies.
And this is essential. It helps prevent situations of abuse, enables children to express what they like or dislike, supports them in setting clear boundaries, and helps them recognise experiences of comfort, pleasure, or discomfort.

Accompanying Growth Without Accelerating It

The second key point concerns an adult responsibility: supporting children’s development without anticipating or accelerating its stages..
What do we mean by this?
Contemporary society often tends to turn children and adolescents into consumers. The market identifies them as potential customers and, as a result, many processes are artificially sped up.

Some examples:

• Is it really necessary for the birthday party of a ten-year-old child to include disco lights, a strobe ball, and dancing as if it were a nightclub?
• Does it make sense for children to dress like adults? Or for young girls to start skincare routines when their skin does not yet need them?

I am convinced the answer is no.

As adults, we can support children’s growth without pushing them towards stages that will arrive in their own time, and without encouraging them to adopt roles or behaviours that belong to other phases of life

Talking About Sexuality Naturally

The third essential point is to talk about sexuality with naturalness, without waiting for “the big talk”, without turning the topic into a taboo, and without delivering unsolicited adult monologues.

This means

• being available to listen to children’s questions
• asking clarifying questions when it is not clear what they are really asking
• offering exactly the information they request—no more, no less
• avoiding overly complex explanations when their curiosity concerns something concrete or specific

There is no need to explain the entire universe of sexuality if the real question is simply:

“How does a baby get into a belly?”

Naturalness, balance, and attentive listening are far more effective than formal lectures.

And You?

Would you add other key points for this stage of the life cycle?

I would be genuinely interested in hearing your perspective:

Which themes do you consider essential when accompanying primary school children in a healthy, respectful, and non-adult-centred approach to sex and emotional education?

To explore how play-based learning can support sex and emotional education in primary schools, visit our educational games section.