Write About Everything

A controversial sex education book has been met with a furious backlash from parents who have complained it’s too graphic.

The book, authored by ABC personality Yumi Stynes and teen magazine advice columnist Dr Melissa Kang, explores a wide range of sexual topics with illustrations of everything from masturbation, gender curiosity, LGBTQI issues, anal sex and even ‘scissoring’.

Titled, ‘Welcome to Sex: Your no-silly-questions guide to sexuality, pleasure and Buy Anabolic steroids online figuring it out’, the book is aimed at children aged eight and above.

‘How can anyone think they are not coming after the children after seeing books like this for sale openly in Big W,’ conservative podcaster Chris Primod said in an Instagram video.

Another angry social media user wrote: ‘Really? We need to teach 11-year-olds different sex positions? This book is a big no from me.’

ABC presenter Yumi Stynes says the book will be a ‘trusted resource’ that will help parents talk to their children about sex

A third added: ‘I have sent a protest letter to Big W about the porn book Welcome to Sex. It is extremely graphic. We should all make the effort to protest this stuff to children.’

But others leaped to the defence of the authors calling the reaction a ‘moral panic’.

‘Right wing cookers/religious nuts are trying to censor these books. Usual anti-queer, anti-feminist reasons,’ one person wrote.

Another parent said: ‘Can’t wait to purchase this. Your period book took away the fear for my 10-year-old daughter (and me!) so much. Forever grateful.’

On the eve of the book’s release Stynes told website Mamamia that she hoped the work would help parents talk candidly about sex with their children.

‘I think a lot of parents have inherited shame from their own parents and from our culture and society at large,’ Stynes said.

‘I think it’s partly shame about icky body fluids, but parents also worry about saying the wrong thing. 

An explicit manual on sex aimed at children aged eight and above is creating heated debate after it went up for sale at Big W

The book contains frank descriptions of sexual acts like ‘scissoring’ that are illustrated with accompanying cartoons

Oral sex including the ’69’ position is also referenced in the book

‘Worry about planting an idea in their mind that wasn’t there before and then just making things worse! 

‘A lot of the difficulty parents have with these types of chats is just not knowing what to say and how to say it; it’s a very unflexed muscle that most of us have.’

She hopes the book will be a ‘trusted resource’ that will stop parents stumbling into saying the ‘wrong thing or saying something that’s informed by sexism or bad science’. 

Stynes argued that some 12-year-olds were mature and ‘quite sophisticated’ while others are ‘very childlike’ and parents had to tailor their conversations to both types. 

She advised parents to use news stories or TV shows as a hook to make talk about sex part of normal family chats.

‘Once they (children) know that you’re safe to talk to about sex with, and you’re not going to flip out, then they can return to the conversations again and they will absolutely love having a space to ask you those questions,’ she said.

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