As an integral part of general upbringing, sex education should start from early childhood, a specialist has said.

“People are always interested [to know] how they came into the world. But we seldom find a parent capable of giving a right explanation,” sexologist Vrezh Shahramanyan told a news conference on Wednesday.

The doctor said that the existing vacuum today results mainly from the fairytales invented by parents.

Artur Poghosyan, a child and adolescent psychiatrist also attending the news conference, added that the problem exists worldwide and is not peculiar only to Armenia. He stressed the importance of giving the right answer to children.

“As parents themselves did not get proper answers to their questions when they were their children’s age, they are unable to respond to the children,” he said.

Shahramanyan noted in turn that today’s media coverage, publications and interviews have contributed to a certain progress.

“That’s clearly evident event from our patients’ questions. People in the past had absolutely no idea who a sexologist is. But today, very many turn to us. However, there are lots of things to do now, especially in the regions,” he added.

The doctor said that sex education should become a compulsory subject in all schools and institutions of higher learning to enable teenagers and the youth to get answers from professionals.

“We have to target a specific generation. While the older generation is restrained, the youth are freer, so it is necessary to give them the right sex education,” Shahramanyan said, adding that the street will replace parents if they continue keeping silent.

Speaking further on the topic, the psychologist called upon parents to be maximum open with the child and choose the correct words, depending on the latter’s age.

“Parents often make up their ignorance with fairytales ,but there’s no need to do that. If you are unaware of something, tell they child that you do not know it at the moment and that you will think and tell them about that later,” he warned.