As a parent I jumped to volunteer and review the new app: Birdees. Brought to the iOS
App Store from developers GoTo educational technology, Birdees is the first application
for iPad designed to help parents conquer tough conversations with their children.
Specifically, the conversations about Sexual Education.
What exactly IS the Birdees app?
Available for free in the App Store, Birdees covers an unprecedented range of topics for parents to discuss with their children of all age ranges– as young as three, as old as fifteen. Primarily, Birdees provides a lot of material for parents to read through on how to address certain situations with their children. With young children, it covers difficult topics such as inappropriate touching and stranger danger. In a few of the interactive portions of these areas I felt tangibly uncomfortable, a thing I ended up realizing was probably an intentional design choice. In the older age brackets, conversations, interactions and FAQ’s for parents focused more on their children’s changing bodies, sexuality, and safe sex.
Throughout the entire Birdees Sex Ed app, the consistent theme across all ages that I
was most impressed by, was their focus on “gender variant” children. I was absolutely
amazed, and thrilled to see how much effort they put in to help parents identify signs
that their child may in fact be gender variant, and provide supportive FAQ’s and
resources on how to handle that situation supportively and positively.
Thankfully, parenting has come a long way from shunning boys who love pink shoes
and girls who love playing in the mud, that being said– gender variance is still a much
less explored reality compared to that of having a gay child. As a former Gay Straight
Alliance volunteer, and member of both my school and community alliances, I have
been proud to watch the culture around gender variance and the LGBT community
change for the better. It has always broken my heart to hear the struggles of my friends,
peers, and coworkers when it came to coming out to their parents, specifically those
friends who are transgender, gender variant, or questioning. My son in particular loves
the color pink, sparkles, and Disney princesses more than some of his family members
would like to believe is appropriate.
I don’t at this time feel that he is a gender variant child, for now I think he just loves the color pink and singing along to some quality princess songs. However, seeing that the developers of such an informative app went to an unprecedented degree to address gender identity in children as young as three was a relief for a parent like me– the kind of parent who sends their kid to school with pink shoes, and is met with equal parts support and confusion/concern for my child’s well-being.
Is this right for me?
If you are a parent of a child as old as 15, this app is definitely worth a look. It is not light
reading, and some of the interactive exercises (most of which are designed to be done
with your child alongside) can be a little more intense than you may expect, but all of it
is incredibly worth it. Even browsing through sections specific to your experience or
struggles with your own child is easy and informative, as the app breaks down into both
age range and sub-chapters.
If you’re not comfortable discussing these topics with your son or daughter, (especially if
you are a single parent with an opposite sex child, like me) the language is easily
understandable for a pre-teen or teen to browse through for those more challenging, but
necessary conversations. Birdees is a free app with more research and direct
knowledge than you’ll ever find in a pamphlet, and less discomfort than you might
experience bringing your child to their pediatrician to discuss their sexual health. The
bottom line that Birdess delivers: parents absolutely need to be prepared to handle all
the complexities of their children’s sexual health and education. For once, there is a
free, unbiased and accurate resource to aid having those tough conversations, and
make them as easy as possible.
