9 year old don asked what gay means

No 9 year old should be asked to justify their experience navigating their gender or sexuality. Clarify what ‘being gay' means At its root, homosexuality means the ‘same sex' or ‘like sexuality.' A distinction between homosexual behavior and orientation is now generally accepted in the medical and therapeutic communities.

Question your child matter-of-factly about how the question arose, and what the child understands, if anything, about homosexuality. Then remain open for further discussion when and if it is initiated by your child.

What to Do mdash

It may be your son is a cis gay man in 30 years, but it may be he understands himself differently or better as he gets older. Your children will encounter it, and will likely ask you questions about it - probably sometime between the ages of 7 and Any communications with children this age, seeking to understand homosexuality, should respect the rule of 'the less said the better.

An 8-year-old is not too young to know who he is. Homosexual orientation refers to the emotional attraction and sexual drive that is directed toward persons of the same sex. Also included are examples of how you might answer your child's questions.

The more knowledge you have about your child's knowledge and lack of it will help you to form a response. “Um, what’s gay mean?” I thought about what I knew about same-sex attraction, God’s wisdom, and a six-year-old’s capacity to understand sexuality and came up with this answer.

Whether from school, by social and public interactions, or through television and movies, homosexuality is being thrust upon and is challenging a heterosexual world. We turned to experts to learn more about what to say and how to offer support to your LGBTQ+ kid.

Homosexual acts refer to the intimate sexual communication between persons of the same sex. As parents, we are able to deflect some issues until another day. Homosexual acts refer to the intimate sexual communication between persons of the same sex.

It is important to understand the context in which the question arises. One of us used the word gay. Drugs, sexual behavior, terrorism, biochemical warfare, and mass death all bombard young minds before many are able to comprehend and understand.

You will want to know if and how homosexuality was defined to the child, and whether or not it was presented in a positive or negative light. If your child comes out to you, how you react matters. Today's children are exposed to many things about adult life that we wish could be deferred or even avoided altogether.

More importantly, parents are challenged to spiritually inoculate - to instruct their children biblically - to understand and be protected by godly knowledge. “Mom, what’s gay mean?” she quickly asked. But I also recognize that younger and younger children are being exposed to homosexual persons, themes, and issues and are naturally confused and curious about it.

I believe that there is so much about it that is difficult to understand. 1. With this, in mind it is important, as a parent and as someone who may be confronted with these issues, to clarify your own understanding of this controversial subject. Your responses will be shaped according to how the question was framed in your child's mind.

Even more, homosexual knowledge entails understanding things I would hope to put off in young children as long as possible. I tried not to let the surprise show on my face. You will likely deal with the question differently if it comes from another child who used it as a taunt or a smear, versus coming from a TV program or from a classroom discussion at school.

Therefore, I must say that I would probably defer - or at least do everything I could to defer - a discussion of homosexuality and gay behavior with a child 10 years old and under. It sounds to me like you and/or your husband assumed your 8-year-old was straight, and now that he’s told you otherwise, with a good grasp of what it means to be gay, you are surprised and don’t understand how he could know that at his age.

However, some topics cannot be deferred or deflected, and parents are challenged to help their children understand. While engaging in homosexual behavior is a chosen activity, being oriented to the same sex is generally considered to be influenced by a variety of factors.

Following is an overview of the biblical, scientific, and clinical knowledge we have about homosexuality.