I'm sorry to say, you'll be dealing with this for a long time! :(

How to keep them innocent? Very easy - you have to have faith that you're raising them with the morals and values that YOU have instilled in them and that they make good choices.

My daughter is 13 - she has heard about EVERYTHING under the sun, nothing shocks me anymore. BUT - she comes to me and asks (which may shock us, but is a good thing that she's open to convo) and then it's usually followed with an "ew". LOL

There is stuff going on in Middle School that would make your toes curl - I DO NOT worry about my daughter one single bit. I trust her. I know how I raised her and I know that she'll make choices based on THAT, not by what someone else told her.

Please don't feel like this is anything new.
I am in my 50's and very clearly remember as a 7 year old, an older neighbor boy telling us all the details of birds and bees including BJs and french kissing!
Parenthood IS hard, it helps to remain calm and honest when approached by your kids with stuff that you wish they were never exposed to.
HTH

Be glad she is open enough to discuss it with you. Keep those lines open and use every opportunity to communicate your family's values and information. That's about all the armor you can really give them.

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My daughter had her first parent-teacher conferences last week. She was looking forward to them, meeting the parents of her 2nd graders, etc. She was quite aggravated by some of them.

Oh, yeah, we know our son has trouble staying awake. He's sharing a room with his older brother, and they have their TV on until 4 a.m.

Oh, I know my son is restless. He plays Call of Duty all day. I wish he didn't, but whatcha gonna do?

Well, for starters, you could take the TV out of the room. Not buy the kid Call of Duty, which is rated M. Not allow him to play videogames all day long.

Duh. Be a parent.

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Some parents are so worried about being friends with their kids they won't or can't just say NO!

originally posted by OHmom1

My daughter had her first parent-teacher conferences last week. She was looking forward to them, meeting the parents of her 2nd graders, etc. She was quite aggravated by some of them.

Oh, yeah, we know our son has trouble staying awake. He's sharing a room with his older brother, and they have their TV on until 4 a.m.

Oh, I know my son is restless. He plays Call of Duty all day. I wish he didn't, but whatcha gonna do?

Well, for starters, you could take the TV out of the room. Not buy the kid Call of Duty, which is rated M. Not allow him to play videogames all day long.

Duh. Be a parent.

 

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Yeah see this is what I mean. WTF lets their second grader play call of duty. Hubby and I had an argument because our 3 year old was downstairs while he was playing it the other day. It won't be happening again. Kids have pleanty of time to be exposed to all that crap later in life. Why speed it up :(  I'm no prude by far. I try to be open with my kids about all questions including sex. I just don't think a 9 year old needs to know what a blow job is. They don't need to watch disgusting violence. These parents let their kids see all this crap then don't understand why they are aggressive or overly sexual and failing in school or what not. UGH

If Ignorance is bliss why aren't more people happy?

Honestly, unless you keep your children locked up in the house with you all the time, they are going to get exposed to this.  Kids talk about these things - yes, even when I was a young girl (many many years ago - I am 49).  Yes, we talked about sex when I was in elementary school (or at least what we thought we knew about sex).  Yes, we "experimented" with some of that information (innocently, as your daughter did).  It is part of childhood, life and the process of growing up.  You cannot shelter your children completely from this, but you can instill your values and morals to the best of your ability, and pray for the best. 

I do agree that some parents do not adequately "parent" their children, but that is never going to change.

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My daughter turned 4 today. Earlier this week we were joking around and she said she was going to kill me. She had NO clue what that meant. She'd heard it from the boys at her school. I informed here what it meant (in 4 year old terms, meaning she'd never see me again, I'd be in heaven with our dog) and she got upset. I told her teacher the next day that he needs to keep an ear out with the boys and he thanked me.

I may not like it, but I'm not going to get all worked up about it and I'm not going to let her see it upset me. I think that gives it more importance than it should have. As things come up, I will explain them to her (in age appropriate terms) and then change the subject once she understands.

It's always happened in varying degrees and I don't forsee it changing.

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MommieMara, I know just what you mean. I've always tried to keep my boys innocent, too. One day,when my oldest was in 1st grade he wanted to know what "gay" was. That's tough to explain to a 1st grade boy who has no interest in girls whatsoever.

Also, around that same time he and his little brother  wanted to know what "a$$" meant. So I explained what it originally meant (donkey) and that it got turned into a curse word that meant butt. They happened to be eating animal crackers at the time. Everyone they pulled out of the bag they'd yell "Look! An a$$!" No, that's an elephant. "Oh, I have an a$$!" No, that's a kangaroo. (of course they knew what they were doing - they were just being stinkers).

Anyway my oldest is now in 4th. Since I'm pregnant, I've had to explain to the boys "the birds and the bees." They wanted to know. However, I left info. on bj's out of my explanation. You're right they're way too young for that knowledge. I think your explanation to your daughter was a good one.

I'm sorry your upset but that's just how kids learn things.

I was told about sex by a friend of mine in the 4th grade, when I didn't believe she showed me pictures her brother had under his mattress.

My son started asking about oral sex in 1998, he was 8. Thank you Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

My son was kind enough to tell his little sister.

If you want to keep her innocent your going to need a big tower where she can't be reached or barbed wire and guards.