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Home / Lifestyle

Third of parents have never had 'sex talk' with children

Daily Mail
27 Sep, 2015 02:30 AM2 mins to read

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Most parents seem to avoid the questions asking where babies come from. Photo / iStock

Most parents seem to avoid the questions asking where babies come from. Photo / iStock

Over a third of parents have never spoken with their children about sex, a survey reveals. But more than one in four - 27 per cent - first discussed the topic before their children were ten.

The online survey of 2,000 parents for insurers Confused.com found that 36 per cent had never broached the subject of the "birds and the bees".

One in ten had discussed death with their children when they were aged only two or three, while one in five preferred to wait until a child was at least ten to raise the issue.

The research revealed that mothers and father wait on average until their children are ten to discuss sex, nine to discuss relationships - and eight to reveal the truth about Father Christmas.

Nearly four in ten say a particular event forced them to tackle a difficult subject such as death or sex.

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Some admit skirting around the topics by telling "little white lies", with 19 per cent confessing they have fibbed about where babies come from. And 55 per cent have used little white lies to keep the joy of Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy alive.

Despite this, half said they believed parents should be more honest with children about the facts of life.

- Daily Mail

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