I imagine the talk with your little one about ‘the birds and the bees’ has the potential to be awkward, even more so if one of the kids at school decided to show the class that naughty website his older brother told him about.

I suppose there is no right age to broach a topic such as sex ed with your young’uns, but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics there is a right time with alcohol and it’s earlier than you think. NBC reports:

“Surveys indicate that children start to think positively about alcohol between ages 9 and 13 years. The more young people are exposed to alcohol advertising and marketing, the more likely they are to drink, and if they are already drinking, this exposure leads them to drink more,” Dr. Lorena Siqueira, a Miami pediatrician, and colleagues write in the journal Pediatrics.

“Therefore, it is very important to start talking to children about the dangers of drinking as early as 9 years of age.”

We were all young and cheeky once upon a time, but the age at which youngsters are having their first sip of alcohol seems to have decreased with some horrible consequences:

“Alcohol is the substance most frequently used by children and adolescents in the United States, and its use in youth is associated with the leading causes of death and serious injury at this age (i.e., motor vehicle accidents, homicides, and suicides).”

It isn’t all doom and gloom parents, don’t freak out just yet. The same study said that your input and advice is still the number one factor in ensuring they don’t get stuck in at too young an age:

“Physicians can also inform parents that 80 percent of teenagers say their parents are the biggest influence on their decision whether to drink.”

They might be a moody bunch but it appears they might listen to some of your sage words of wisdom. Go forth and preach…

[source:nbc]