Children and young people’s curiosity about the body, relationships and sexuality is natural and is part of their development. The problem is not in curiosity, but in the silence that often surrounds it.
When they don’t find space in their families to talk about these topics, when schools don’t create safe spaces for dialogue and when adults avoid questions out of discomfort or fear, children look for answers wherever they can find them – and today, that almost always means the internet.
Search on Google, chats anonymously, on social networks and, increasingly earlier, on sites of pornography. What they find is not Sex Education, but explicit images that present sex as a mechanical act, devoid of affection, intimacy, respect or consent. For many of them, this is their first “class” on sexuality. And it is a deeply distorted class.
Pornography shows bodies without history, relationships without bonds, practices without emotional context. It shows performance, not relationship. Shows dominance, does not show reciprocity. Shows pleasure, doesn’t show care.
For a child or young person who is still building internal references about what an intimate relationship is, this early exposure is not only inadequate – it is formative. This means that it influences expectations, shapes beliefs and creates models that have nothing to do with healthy sexuality.
Many children begin to believe that what they see is what is expected of them, or what they should accept from others. They confuse sex with sexuality, they confuse aggression with desire, they confuse the absence of limits with normality. And they do it alone, in silence, without adult mediation.
The impact of this early consumption is significant. It increases anxiety, shame and confusion. It creates unrealistic expectations about the body and others. Normalizes disrespectful or aggressive behavior. It hinders the ability to recognize limits and understand consent. It can generate fear, pressure or sexualized behaviors that the child does not understand. And all this happens because adults didn’t speak up in time. Because it was believed that “it was still early”, when, in fact, it was already late.
The silence of adults is a risk. When the family doesn’t talk, the child learns that it is a forbidden topic. When the school doesn’t talk, you learn that it’s an irrelevant topic. When adults don’t respond, she learns that it’s an issue she can resolve on her own. And the internet, always available, always open, responds – even when it responds badly.
Sex Education is not a luxury, nor an option. It is a protective measure. It’s abuse prevention. It’s mental health promotion. It is building autonomy. It is integral development.
Children need truthful information, age-appropriate language, space to ask questions and adults who are not embarrassed by the topic. They need to know that sexuality involves affection, communication, limits, responsibility and respect. They need to learn that the body is theirs, that consent is mandatory, and that the other is not an object.
When we don’t educate, we let the internet educate. And the internet doesn’t educate – it exposes.
This is what many children are seeing and learning; that many children are learning, alone, without guidance, in a silence that weakens them.
The responsibility is ours: to speak early, clearly and be present, so that natural curiosity does not become vulnerability.
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