Children and sexuality education: kept on a strictly 'need to know' basis?

Meanwhile, look at the kind of apparel that clothing manufacturers encourage little girls to buy - in the name of fashion. Look at Britney Spears. The exploitation of the female population continues unabated, and sex symbols grow younger and more provocative every day. We have to stop ignoring the implications of all this gratuitous input and deal with it.

The Sexual Revolution did nothing for our children except prevent a lot of them from being conceived, and elevating the level of this commercial pre-occupation with sex. Feminism has yet to provide a truly level sexual playing field. In spite of both feminism and the sexual revolution, it's still very much a man's world. In recent times, the phenomenon of "date rape" has come to the fore. There is even the casually named "date rape drug". Apparently we're still raising boys to still think they are well within their rights take without asking, or that "no" really means "wait till I'm unconscious".

Women are starving themselves and continuing to allow themselves to be manipulated and exploited - all in the name of sexual desirability and acceptance. If only we could turn the boat around - but we can't.

What we can do, is fulfil our moral obligation to protect our children from the consequences of the sexual innuendo overkill that surrounds them at every turn. Responsible, comprehensive sexuality education is a very good start. The essence of an ideal curriculum would be self-discovery, self-awareness, self-love (including masturbation) self-respect and acceptance. It would also include personal boundaries and respecting other's boundaries. As well as teaching parents the latest methods in mathematics, we should also be teaching them how to talk to children about sex. The saddest fact of all is parents not only don't talk to their children about sex (until it's too late) that many parents are completely ignorant about the nuances of sexuality anyway, so what's being passed on, isn't really up to snuff.

I like to imagine a world where little girls grow up fully understanding the intimate workings of their own bodies, without thinking it's a boy's job to show them. Children would recognise "inappropriate or uncomfortable" situations from miles away.

Teenagers would be happy to wait for the time to be right. With no great mysteries to be uncovered, surely romantic relationships would have to be about love, understanding and spiritual compatibility - sex wouldn't be an issue.

Then I try to imagine a world where, despite all consumer advice to the contrary, sexual attractiveness is no longer aspired to as the ultimate virtue.

Ah, to dream, the impossible dream.