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Parenting

08th Feb 2018

Jessica Biel says she’s already started her two-year-old son’s sex education

'I really believe that if you start this early, there’s no shame.'

Anna O'Rourke

Jessica Biel says she's started teaching her two-year-old son sex education

When it comes to the birds and the bees, Jessica Biel doesn’t hold back.

The actress was speaking at the launch of a video she made with TV host Chelsea Handler to encourage girls to get to know their bodies.

She revealed that she practices what she preaches and that she and husband Justin Timberlake have already started the conversation the with their son Silas, 2.

Jessica Biel says she's started teaching her two-year-old son sex education

“I have a 2 and a half-year-old, we’re starting [sexual education] now,” she told the the 2018 MAKERS Conference.

“We’re using technical terms … we shower together, and [we say], ‘This is what I’ve got. This is what you’ve got.’ We just talk about it. I know it’s really young, but I really believe that if you start this early, there’s no shame.”

“I don’t want to tell him, ‘Keep your private parts,’ and this and that.

“It’s a beautiful thing. You have it and mine is different and it’s cool, man. We have to respect ourselves and respect each other. So I believe it starts really young.”

Jessica Biel says she's started teaching her two-year-old son sex education

Jessica makes an interesting point. In a world where kids can access explicit images or clips on the internet with a few clicks and sex ed in schools can be lacking, parents have a responsibility to start a conversation at home.

Meanwhile, researchers last year called for a major update in how schools teach kids about the birds and the bees.

“At a time when much sex and relationship education is being updated, keeping pace with current trends in sexual practices is crucial so that curricula are tailored to the realities of young people’s experiences,” said Dr Ruth Lewis who led a study on the topic at at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and University College London.