Channel Hopper wrote:smeggypants wrote:The whole point of childhood is to learn about life. An apprenticeship for adulthood if you like. Sheiliding children from some aspects of life and then throwing them in at the deep end at some arbitrary age isn't the best way.
The first thing Sex councillors focus upon is someone's childhood as they know that has an enormous effect on moulding an adults sexual health
An sexual health of an adult is rarely affected by childhood experiences of (really) anything to do with sexual experiences, or otherwise.
What is certain is lower conformity to the 'norm' if the child
1) is affected by genetic or chemical imbalance, either at conception or through the period up to birth.
2) is suckled and/or fed badly in the first few years of life outside the womb,
3) is brought up in an unstable relationship with family members - spanning both siblings (which can be substituted by schooling), and peers/adults. Single parents more often than not score less than couples (and same sex couples score less than the heterosexual), insofar as a stable/nuclear family ideal is concerned.
4) is brought up in a place unassociated with security - perceived or actual - and
5) is exposed to harm, inside or outside those given in 3) and 4)
Nature and nurture are both contributory factors, but the above are highlighted in terms of importance in how the child can be affected.
Of course thereare other factors, but an adult's sexual attitudes are directly affected by their experiences regarding sex as a child. An obvious example is comparing having "Christian fundermentalist prude sexually stifled" parents compared to having "open talk about anything open attitudes" to sex parents