Effective Communication with Children about Sex
1h 40m
Nadine Thornhill
Sexuality Educator
Trailer
Content and aim: We sometimes assume that sexuality education for children and teens should be coolly clinical and tightly controlled. For the past 20 years, Dr. Nadine Thornhill has had the privilege of working with thousands of young people as they learn about bodies, relationships, consent, communication, emotions, identity, sexual health, pleasure, and more. In this lecture, Dr. Thornhill will review key aims of Comprehensive Sexual Education for youth. She will outline the key frameworks of Inquiry-Based Learning, explain how sexuality professionals can use a youth-led approach to create dynamic, engaging learning experiences for children, tweens, and teens, and conclude with general tips to help set educators up for success. Practitioners can use this lecture to approach sex education in ways that encourage young learners’ curiosity about sexuality, affirm their wisdom and insight, and help them build solid foundations for happy, healthy sexual futures.
Learning objectives
- Review core principles of Comprehensive Sexuality Education
- Learn the key frameworks of Inquiry-Based Learning
- Learn how using Inquiry-Based Learning techniques to deliver comprehensive sexuality education can engage child, tween, and adolescent learners.
Produced in 2026
Nadine Thornhill
Sexuality Educator
Lecturer
Dr. Nadine Thornhill, Ed.D., is an award-winning sexuality educator, speaker, author, producer, and performer.
Based in Toronto, Ontario. With two decades of experience, Nadine has helped thousands of adults and youth learn and communicate openly about consent, pleasure, relationships, and sexuality.
In 2018, Ontario’s conservative government moved to repeal the province’s queer-inclusive sex education curriculum. In response, Nadine created #SaveSexEd, a YouTube series preserving every sexual development module in Ontario’s 2015 Health and Physical Education curriculum.
Nadine has consulted on and been featured in multiple film and television productions, including Netflix’s Sex Education, CBC’s The Big Sex Talk, and the documentary Sex With Sue. She is a co-producer. Nadine is the author/editor of Our Whole Lives, a curriculum for grades 10-12, and the co-producer/co-host of Every Body Curious, the acclaimed sex education series for youth ages 9-12.