You want to teach your child everything you know. You want to save them and protect them from harm. You monitor what they watch on TV. But do you talk about it? Do you allow your child to watch sex and violence on television? Do you turn the TV off and shelter them from the world?
Developing positive images of sex and sexuality for you and your family is important in also strengthening the positive relationship you already have with your child. When your child becomes a teenager, and in many cases well before they become teenagers, they will learn everything that you did not teach them about sex from their friends, from the TV, from dirty magazines. They will develop sexually whether you talk to them or not. By ignoring the issue your child's sexuality will not go away. Instead it will develop secretly.
When parents don't talk about sex and kids have to learn about sex from other kids, their peers, their friends, one of the biggest messages they are given is that sex is BAD, NOT to be mentioned in front of mom and dad, a secret. Sex then becomes a mystery; something that happens in the dark. The teen years is when kid's begin to explore sexually, and we all know the risks of this: unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted disease, not to mention it opens children up to various other things such as rape, assault, failure in school, and more. Many people advocate for abstinence and believe that talking about sex condones it. Well, you are right, it could and possibly does, but not talking about it is riskier. Your child may end up then having sex 1) in secret, 2) without the knowledge of how to protect themselves and 3) confused, depressed, alone and possibly (at worst) a danger to themselves or someone else.
Talking to your child openly can prevent this. Letting them know that maybe you think it is too early, and maybe you think they are too young, but that you are also aware that kids experiment, leaves the door open for your child to come to you, and talk to you if he/she needs to. Educating them on how sexually transmitted diseases are exchanged, and how babies are made may seem basic enough, and maybe you think that your child should already know, but believe me, when they hear it from you, their parent, it reinforces the knowledge in them, making the message even stronger. And though your child will make their own decisions ultimately, your words make a difference.
Your child may know things about sex that you don't know, or that are untrue. You can learn from your child, the way they will learn from you. You may not know what is going on today in our public schools. I recently heard of a school in Los Angeles that was running a prostitution ring. Your child needs useful information to help him/her make appropriate, educated decisions. DO you want that information coming from another child, a teenager, or worse a perpatrator? Take my word, talk to your kids about sex. You will be glad you did.