WIMMERA children are frequently accessing inaccurate information about sex and relationships, according to a leading sexuality educator.
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Sexuality Nurse Education Vanessa Hamilton will present two sessions at Horsham College on Monday that aim to help teachers and parents speak to children about sex.
Ms Hamilton said when it came to sexuality education, children were very misinformed.
"There is a whole bubble of inaccurate information that children receive about sex through the media, and things like music videos, apps and pornography," she said.
"Parents and teachers need to counterbalance that information.
"Children receive sex education whether they know it or not, they just get it from inaccurate sources, which leads to all sorts of problems."
Ms Hamilton said children needed to be more informed about positive relationships in order to keep them safe.
She said the sessions on Monday would provide people with the knowledge and confidence to deliver sexuality education to young people.
"We have a new sexualised society and adults find it difficult to have essential conversations with their kids," she said.
"Parents especially feel lost and are unsure of what information they should give."
Ms Hamilton said there was a common misconception that if parents told their children about sexual activities, they might go out and do them.
"In fact, the opposite is true," she said.
"Parents are the best people to give this information to children, but many parents think they get enough information at school."
Ms Hamilton said sex education wasn't just about sex, but more about respectful relationships and consent.
Horsham College teacher and parent Rod Kirkwood said the session was needed in the region.
He said children were being exposed to pornography or other sexually explicit images more often now than ever before.
"They can access this stuff at a click of a button," he said.
"Studies have show children as young as seven and eight are seeing this type of content, but it doesn't make sense to them and it can have an emotional toll."
Mr Kirkwood said Horsham also had one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the state.
"We need to give parents more support to deal with these issues - we are all in this together, we are all struggling to have that conversation."
Mr Kirkwood the college had a big focus on respectful relationships.
"We decided we needed an expert in this field to come to our region and target a big group of community members," he said.
"We want parents and community members to come along and learn how to work with adolescents and equip them with the resources they need to feel more comfortable about having these conversations."
Mr Kirkwood said sex education could be embarrassing for everyone.
"Some teachers really struggle to talk about it - it's one of those topics in society that is hard," he said.
"It's difficult for parents too.
"Kids just want someone to talk to and we need to help people with those skills."
The Talking the Talk sessions are aimed at parents of children from grade five to year 12, along with primary and secondary school teachers.
A session for teachers will be at 4.15pm on Monday and a session for parents will be at 7pm, both at Horsham College
The sessions are free and are not suitable for children.
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