Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 75
Chapter 4: Elementary School Years 75 encourage them to participate in some kind of outdoor sports. Children should get a minimum of thirty minutes of physical activity at least five times a week. Hygiene/sex education As children start full time school, they will be faced with the issue of lack of water to wash themselves when using the school restroom. You can teach your children to carry an appropriate plastic container with them to wash themselves, or to use wet wipes , which are also convenient. Children should learn the Islamic guidelines about personal matters in the home, and parents have the right to decide when and how they should be told about the facts of life. Unfortunately, the culture we are living in makes it nearly impossible to be impervious to the sexuality around us. For this reason, it is better that children learn the facts rather than fiction, and for parents to explain these matters themselves to their children when they are ready for the information, preferably before they learn it from friends or teachers at school. The inclusion of sex education in elementary school curricula varies from state to state. In general, if a school district offers sex education, the parents should be notified and they can go to the school and see the materials, whereby they can decide whether they want children to attend such lessons or not. Media Time One of the biggest areas of contention between parents and children is the amount of time they spend on electronic devices such as the Internet, television, video games, iPads etc. If children feel a compulsion to play for more than a couple of hours, then a parent should be aware that they may be getting addicted to their screens. This form of addiction is becoming more and more prevalent among