# In general, is it ok to let children watch animals mate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604 "2016-05-12T13:51:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/41 "2016-05-13T17:15:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I recall a joke where Billy took the family cow over to Sally’s house to be serviced by the bull. > Billy was sweet on Sally. > They sat on the fence and watched. > Billy tactfully said, “I wish I was doing that.” > Sally equally tactfully replied, “Why not, Billy? It’s your cow.” Steinbeck included this joke (among a few others similar) in _The Grapes of Wrath_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/42 "2016-05-13T19:52:00Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Steinbeck included this joke (among a few others similar) in _The Grapes of Wrath_. Perhaps I’ve stolen it from him. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/43 "2016-05-13T20:11:19Z")
FWIW, [YouTube disallows “sexually explicit content,”](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2802002?hl=en) but doesn’t seem to have a problem with videos of non-human animals getting it on. Search YouTube for “\* mating” where \* is any particular animal (e.g. “Clydesdale horses”), and you’ll get more results than can be viewed in a day. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/44 "2016-05-14T05:11:58Z")
Noel Coward’s way of dealing with this was famous in its day: “Well, you see, dear, the little doggie in front has gone blind and her friend has kindly volunteered to push her all the way to St Dunstan’s”. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Windshoeffel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Max\_Windshoeffel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Windshoeffel)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/45 "2016-05-14T10:36:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I think the entire history of our species being part of nature and witnessing its every day occurrences would tend to say there’s nothing wrong with it. Just picking this post out of a few similar: I am convinced a statistical case could be made that there is a correlation between the growing isolation of human children from watching animals mate and the global reduction of warfare, famines, crime and many forms of bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/46 "2016-05-14T10:38:42Z")
In general, is it ok to let children watch animals, mate? Yeah, nah, she’s all good, bro. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/47 "2016-05-14T11:54:19Z")
Of course it’s good to let kids (of all ages) watch. Though it’s probably wise to help them understand, by warning them how weird some people get about the subject. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/48 "2016-05-14T13:59:49Z")
> [@mr\_wolf](#): > > Surely this happened and happens all the time if the kids live in a farm. There isn’t really that much on a farm which isn’t essentially about birth, death or sex. Not all the sex is consensual or heterosexual either. I didn’t realise that city folk lived such sheltered lives. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/49 "2016-05-14T14:51:18Z")
> [@Max\_Windshoeffel](#): > > Just picking this post out of a few similar: > > I am convinced a statistical case could be made that there is a correlation between the growing isolation of human children from watching animals mate and the global reduction of warfare, famines, crime and many forms of bigotry. 😕 Yes and we could find the same correlation in both directions with the decline of newspapers and the rise of Reality TV and internet porn; or with the rise of populist-nationalist political leaders, the use of GMO crops, the extinction of the Australian automotive industry, the abandonment of the use of hats by Western gentlemen, the rise of SciFi nerd-dom, Rock and Roll and Global Warming. > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > There isn’t really that much on a farm which isn’t essentially about birth, death or sex. > > Not all the sex is consensual or heterosexual either. > > I didn’t realise that city folk lived such sheltered lives. The disconnect has been an issue ever since cities and the urban/rural division of labor have been big enough so that the farms were not directly within line of sight of the town walls, but really the concept that children must by all means be kept ignorant of the facts of nature (not just sex but also death, come to think of it) is not strictly urban and largely a post-1800s thing. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/50 "2016-05-14T15:25:49Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > There isn’t really that much on a farm which isn’t essentially about birth, death or sex. > > Not all the sex is consensual or heterosexual either. > > I didn’t realise that city folk lived such sheltered lives. Good points. Many _plants_ use sexual reproduction. Pollen is, essentially, semen, and the fact that such plants depend on insects to “get it on” doesn’t change the fact that the same thing is happening. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/51 "2016-05-14T20:47:00Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > but really the concept that children must by all means be kept ignorant of the facts of nature (not just sex but also death, come to think of it) “Last night, quietly, in his sleep, your Grandfather…moved to Florida.” ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/52 "2016-05-16T15:07:47Z")
In that vein: yesterday I let my five-year-old daughter watch me dress a rabbit. She asked to watch, and I figured 200 years of idealizing childhood innocence couldn’t possibly trump a few million years of evolution, so I said sure. As soon as I got the skin partway off she said “there’s meat in there!!!” She also said she’d expected it to be really gross, but it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/53 "2016-05-16T16:18:24Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > As soon as I got the skin partway off she said “there’s meat in there!!!” 😃 I like how the kid’s mind works. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@mr\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/54 "2016-05-16T21:26:57Z")
Uau. Not one dissenting opinion. Did all non liberal folk fall from the edge of the earth or did they give up on the internet or… what? ---
**Author:** ![txst16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@txst16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txst16)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/55 "2016-05-16T21:32:46Z")
Sounds better than trying to explain the “birds and the bees”… Never quite understood that analogy myself. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/56 "2016-05-16T21:35:49Z")
> [@mr\_wolf](#): > > Uau. Not one dissenting opinion. Did all non liberal folk fall from the edge of the earth or did they give up on the internet or… what? Or consider that you might be an outlier, even among conservatives. Even conservatives have sex, and presumably learn about it at some point. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/57 "2016-05-16T21:40:55Z")
> [@mr\_wolf](#): > > Uau. Not one dissenting opinion. Did all non liberal folk fall from the edge of the earth or did they give up on the internet or… what? Once you sober up, I hope you’ll explain this to us. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/58 "2016-05-16T21:49:58Z")
I might be in the last generation of fathers who _didn’t_ talk to their daughters about…well…you know. I was thirty-nine when we had her - reproductive difficulties. I also have no idea what her mother told her. I know that she knows all about reproduction, mating, and genetics, and has always had an active interest in animal biology. We have relatively little censorship at our house, and none at all about explicit nature shows. We have four dogs: three castrated males, and one female pup who has had one heat. She’s sixteen. I don’t worry about her at all. So far, she is much more interested in computer game design than she is in boys, who I think she regards mostly as not worth her time. If it turns out that she is asexual or gay, so be it - I’m cool. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/59 "2016-05-17T00:09:15Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Even conservatives have sex, and presumably learn about it at some point. No! I thought they recruited. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604/60 "2016-05-17T00:35:43Z")
> [@mr\_wolf](#): > > Let’s say for children of 10 years of age and older and let’s say we’re talking about farm animals larger than a man. It is ok for them to stumble into the act and watch, or will it have any negative effects? It’s OK, unless it’s wolves. That’s a little too personal, you know? I’m sure you feel the same way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-general-is-it-ok-to-let-children-watch-animals-mate/754604.md?page=4)