Family Communication Management Model for Parentsin Building a Child's Sexual Understanding from an Early Age

10.2478/bjlp-2023-00000197

Abstract

Understanding of sexuality from an early age needs to be given considering that at this time sexual violence often occurs in minors. The role of the family in this case the parents is very large in providing explanations to children so that it is necessary to form a positive attitude from parents about the importance of sexual education for children so that they can provide explanations about sexuality that are correct according to the stages of child development. But for most families, talking about sexuality to children is taboo. Parents think that sexuality is just sexual relations in adults only. The fact is that the media is very open in presenting information about sexuality, besides that the threat of sexual violence in the environment around children is often ignored. Based on this, this study aims to 1) analyze the use of verbal and nonverbal communication used by parents to children in building sexual understanding. 2) Finding a family communication management model in building children's sexual understanding. This research was studied using a qualitative descriptive analysis method with in-depth interviews with parents who live in Pasir Melati Village, Bandung. In-depth interviews were used to obtain qualitative data. Interviews were conducted with parents selected by purposive sampling. The results of the study show that parents use a variety of verbal communication. Parents' verbal communication avoids the topic of sexuality more, diverts the conversation towards good attitude, discipline and faith. Nonverbal communication is more shown with wide eyes when the topic of sexuality arises, closes eyes, and chooses to leave the place. The Communication Management Model was found to be an ideal picture of a family building a child's sexual understanding.