Watch: What we don’t teach kids about sex and sensuality

She states, “Before language, we’re all sensation. As children, that’s how we learn to differentiate ourselves in the world — through touch. Everything goes in the mouth, the hands, on the skin.” Sensation, she stresses, is the foundation of human connection.

And for children to grow up to have healthy intimate relationships, while parents must talk about sex education and safe sex, they should also be taught about desire, consent and boundaries. Teach kids about sensuality, not just sex, by engaging in the senses through touch, play and making eye contact. She says, “I find opportunities to tell them how I’m feeling, what I’m experiencing, so we have common language.”

Johnson also mentions Girls and Sex, by writer Peggy Orenstein, which says that young women tend to focus more on their partner’s pleasure and less on their own. It’s something she plans to discuss with her daughters when they’re older.