Please note this article is not suitable for children.
UPDATE on 19th April 2022:
The family sex show has now been withdrawn from theatres and will only be will only be performed to a ‘selected invited audience’ at Bath.
We thank the Lord for intervening to protect our children and for many who spoke up against it. Let us continue to stand up for our children and protect them from sexualisation.
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No! Children do not need to know about sexual pleasure.
No! Children should not see naked strangers.
No! Children do not need to discover masturbation.
As parents we should be wary of any adults who push this agenda on our children. That is the very definition of sexual abuse! As NSPCC states on their website: Non contact sexual abuse includes exposing or flashing.
Yet this is exactly what is happening in the ‘Family Sex Show,’ starting in Bath. It’s creators recommend it for children aged 5 and above.
Let that sink in – 5 and above.
On their website they state: ‘In our society (UK), talking about sex isn't normalised. And if a child does talk openly about sex, we are trained in safeguarding that this might be a red flag…’
This is indeed a red flag. The more we sexualize our children the more we steal their childhood. When a child is talking about sex it means they have been exposed to sexual content somewhere in a way that has sunk into them and is now being processed out loud. I repeat, this is not okay. It is not appropriate for children to be exposed to these things. Even the secularised media understands this, developing a watershed time where content will not damage children.
There is a right way, time and place to talk about sex and sexuality, that will vary for all children, but it is not age 5, in a live theatre, with naked performers.
The best place for these discussions is within the family home with the parents who know their children best, not from a panel of ‘experts’ who each carry their own agenda.
The right time is when they bring questions, as they approach puberty and when as a parent you see they are in need of more conversations.
The right way will vary according to their age, but we should always frame things from a biblical perspective. Why? Because God’s ways are the best ways for our children to grow into healthy rounded individuals.
I hear some crying, but parents don’t feel comfortable talking about these things. If you feel that, then present your case to them and let them decide, don’t take this role from them. Support them, don’t usurp them.
Others would say, but the parents won’t tell all that a child needs to know. In whose opinion. The promotion of what the Bible defines as sexual immorality to our children is not a victory of openness and free speech, it is a sign of the moral corruption of our society. As the prophet Isaiah stated, 'Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.’ Isaiah 5:20
In the words of Jesus, ‘If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.’ Matthew 18:6
Every person is made in God’s image and therefore every life contains infinite value, but that does not mean we should put our children in a place where they are seeing nudity. Children do not need a deeper understanding of sex or sexual behaviour. They need space to be themselves.
We are seeing the effects of this hypersexualisation of our children here in the UK as we talk with children. Children as young as 5 do not need more knowledge about sex. They do need to know how to be friends with someone, without the shadow of ‘if my best friends is a boy like me we must both be gay.’ That thinking is destructive for normal healthy friendships. Not every relationship should be viewed through the lens of sex and when you are a child NO relationships should be viewed through this lens.
For all our sex education, relationships in the UK are not more whole, people are not more happy and finding more stability in relationships. This is not the agenda. The best advice I ever received concerning sex was from my father:
‘Sex is a gift from God and we should treat it as such.’
All through history sinfulness has existed. In some eras sin has been openly celebrated and promoted. At other times it has been frowned upon. Let us hold on to the truth that leads to wholeness and lead our children in the same path that they may not stumble on the snares the enemy has laid for them.
It seems crazy to me that this is the second article I have had to write in as many weeks on this subject. But let’s not bury our heads in the sand – instead let’s stand up for our children and protect them from this abuse.
If you are shocked by all this, the next question is - What can we do about it?:
1. Pray for your children to be protected from the overload of sexuality and ungodly representations of relationships presented in schools and through the media.
2. Foster an open relationship with your children so that you can talk to you about anything.
3. Ask your children’s school to show you the resources that are used for sex and relationship education and object if you don’t agree.
4. Sign this petition about the family sex show: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-family-sex-show
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