It’s the question every parent dreads: “Where do babies come from?” While some mumble about the birds and the bees and storks delivering bundles of joy, others may opt for brushing aside the question altogether.
But the Danes do things altogether differently. There is no talk about the “wee-wee” or “pee-pee.”
The Danes speak frankly to their children about sex from a young age, believing that learning the proper words for body parts “promotes positive body image, self confidence, and parent-child communication.”
Redditor Sara, whose parents immigrated to the US from Denmark, couldn’t imagine learning about sex any other way: “My parents were always completely open with me about sex,” she wrote on Reddit.
“When I asked where babies come from, they told me in the most clinical and simple way you can tell a young child, and showed me a kids’ book which explained all about puberty and sex.”
“[They] even showed a cartoon penis in three stages: about to penetrate, mid-penetration, and fully penetrating and ejaculating.”
“In my opinion one of the great sins American parents make is not being open about sex.”
Sara even asked the unthinkable: “I asked my parents if they had sex and they told me they did frequently, but only when I was asleep or out of the house.”
“I lost my virginity in my own bed with my parents’ knowledge it was going to happen in advance.”
“I’m in my late 20s now, no husband and no kids. But when/if I have kids I hope to raise them the same way I was raised.”
“Looking back, I can’t imagine having been forced to lose my virginity in secret, with no counseling from my parents about what to expect.”
American mom Jessica Alexander was shocked when she first heard her husband read the Danish sex education book Da Emma blev Emma og hvordan det gik til (When Emma became Emma And How It Happened).
But after much thought and research, she realized that it made sense for parents to talk about sex in an honest and natural way. And so she went on to co-author The Danish Way of Parenting: A Guide to Raising the Happiest Kids in the World.
What do you think is the best way to teach kids about sex?