Hearing your year old announce that she has a boyfriend or he has a girlfriend, or, frankly, any other combination ranks right up there as a major parental WTF moment. How did this happen? Rib-poking, no matter how gentle, can be a subtle form of bullying, says Hanks. That might mean offering to take the two kids to a fro-yo shop while you sit at another table, being low-key if they have a play date at your home, or even just mentioning that you think the object of her affection is a nice kid. Other than a hug or a simple peck, to year olds are not emotionally or physically ready for sexual experimentation, Hanks says. The encouraging news is that kids today are becoming sexually active at a later age than kids of earlier generations, according to a recent study in the journal Child Development , and the teen birth rate is lower than ever.