Recently a friend of mine called to ask about a situation she had encountered. Parents of a six-year-old child had taken him to a public event. While at the event, the child witnessed an older man kissing a younger man. The child stared at the men kissing one another. During this public event, these men kissed one another several times and this young boy watched in fascination. The parents of this child were bothered by such a public display of affection between two men, but did not know how to address the situation with their son. They wanted to teach their son about God’s plan for sexuality, but didn’t know how to address homosexuality in an age appropriate way for a six-year-old. Honestly, not too many parents know how to address homesexuality with a young child in a way that teaches God’s plan for sexuality.

Children respond to our emotional messages as much as they do to our information about sexuality. My suggestion to these parents was to approach the situation the same way they would approach teaching their son about any other Christian principle. A simple statement like “God wants men to kiss women. Men kissing men isn’t what God wants just like he doesn’t want us to steal or lie.” A simple statement like this conveys the message that the behavior is not acceptable to God without giving a child more information than he or she is ready to deal with. If this amount of information isn’t sufficient, a child will ask more questions. The key to effective sex education for children is to provide just enough information without overwhelming them with too much information.