The+Birds+and+the+bees

**The Birds and the Bees** At a point in a child’s life ‘the talk’ will be introduced by his or her parents. But how to bring it up and communicate it is a decision which many parents face. This is where the talk of “the birds and the bees” is usually introduced. The phrase is almost universally known and is explained presently in books and on television. The phrase began in literature back in the 18th century when Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1825) made the link between the phrases in his poem “work without hope”. This poem believed to have laid the foundation of the phrase and introduced it to the outside world. Another writer thought to have introduced the topic was John Burroughs; he cited the phrase in his essay titled “birds and bees, sharp eyes and other papers”. John Burroughs made an attempt to display the nature of sex and reproduction to children in a way that they could understand. 

Apparent to custom, the birds and the bees is a story that is sometimes told to children in an effort to describe the technicalities and outcomes of sexual intercourse. #|Communication is a vital concept when parents introduce the talk to their children about sex. The birds and the bees talk usually easesthe #|subject which makes the child more comfortable and able to understand it. The story involves birds and bees; the bees fly around and pollinate the flower which is an easy way to relate the example of male fertilization, and the birds #|lay and deposit eggs which correlates to female ovulation. The significance of birds is an important factor when relating it back to the male. 90% of birds are monogamous (Lack 1968) which means that they will stay with a specific partner for at least a season in the year. This form of a relationship will increase the chance of survival for their young as both the male and female will comfort and care for it. The birds find mates and court them which link in well with many parents’ objectives for their children when they have ‘the talk’. Like the birds, bees relate to hu man reproduction; male bees have only one purpose which is to engage in sex (Weiss, 1997). Once the bee has engaged in sex it leaves or dies depending on the type of bee. Female bees do not need males to produce male offspring and have the choice to fertilize the egg inside them (Brown, 2008). This directly relates to the action of sex because of the requirement of the sex organs and fertilization of eggs. Even though this type of explanation is not needed and is never given to children, this is how the evolution of “the birds and the bees” came about.

There are some misconceptions with the phrase where parents believe that the flowers are part of the theory which relates to the birds and the bees having sex. But according to ScienceRay.com birds stood for courting and bees for reproduction, and not much more than that. Also many believe that the phrase became popular because it was easier for parents to utilize when discussing sex with their children. In fact this phrase is used less often as children became older and more mature as it has been researched that they can understand direct definitions with the right terms for sexual parts of the human body and the pure act of sex much better. In real life examples this is a common problem, like Joey for instance, where he asked the question in his high school class, ‘what does the saying the birds and bees have to do with having sex?’ which was answered with ‘the birds are out on a beautiful day and the bees are trying to have sex with them… as of my understanding’ (Robert, 2000). As children get older and are never told of the phrase, this is what is most relevant to them as they only know what sex is from the literal definition not a figurative one. This reasoning is correct because young children do not know much about sex and giving them descriptions of objects like flowers, bees and birds children can relate a little easier. Teaching the phrase ‘birds and the bees’ in school is never taught in high schools around America, moreover the aspects of real life sexual education is now taught around the United States (Flowers, 2006). Some may say the use of the ‘birds and the bees’ is becoming very ineffective nowadays (Karner). Parents are no longer the main source of sex education for their kids, as high schools are taking over the responsibility and leaving parents in the rear view mirror. Parents are very misinformed about their child’s knowledge of sex as they get older. A recent survey that was revealed by Microsoft showed that children are hiding their knowledge on sex, based on the web content they have browsed and searched. It showed 67% of children have cleaned out their browser history to make sure that their parents would not see what they were looking at online. Compared to the percentage of parents that give the birds and the bee’s talk which was only 70%, almost 90% of parents have talked with their children about potential online dangers (Warren, 2010). To see a 20% increase in parents talking to their children about internet dangers rather than potential dangers of sex is very concerning, but shows how ‘the talk’ is getting less relevant with parents and more relevant in school districts.

The sex talk, the puberty talk, the birds and the bees talk; no matter what type of talk it is, it will bring an uncomfortable feeling to all parents. Many will argue that this is the most beneficial to your children when they are young, yet statistics and real life examples have shown otherwise. For years now the birds and the bees approach has seemed the most favored out of all. It has helped describe the process to children with ease and the ability for them to understand.

**References**  1. Adkins-Regan, EA. (2007, December 22). //Monogamy on the fast track//. Retrieved from []

 2. Brown, MB. (2008, September 10). //The birds and the bees//. Retrieved from []

 3. Flowers, MF. (2010, October). //Teaching the “birds and bees” in school//. Retrieved from [|http://www.teenink.com/opinion/school_college/article/275986/Teaching-the-Birds-and-Bees-in-school/]

 4. Miller, Rm. (2010, July 22). //The history of the birds and the bees.// Retrieved from []

 5. Robert. (2000, April 9). //Birds and the bees//. Retrieved from []

 6. Weiss, KW. (1997). //The little book of bees//. Germany: Copernicus books.