The latest Warner Bros. Animated Picture “Storks” is a well-meaning family film that came out in theaters on September 17. The premise of the movie is that these storks have stopped delivering babies to families in favor of package delivery. However, when a young boy writes to the corporation asking for a younger sibling, a baby is made in the Baby Factory and a stork and its human friend must find the baby’s family.

While its intentions for a sweet family-oriented film are good, its effects are harmful. The perpetuation of the “storks bringing babies” myth is not a way to preserve your child’s innocence but a way to steep them in ignorance. I’m not saying you have to tell your 4-year-old about the birds and bees but you shouldn’t lie to them. Having them grow up not knowing where babies come from can be seriously detrimental to their maturity and safety.

Especially in the United States, human sexuality is totally underplayed, if not completely invalidated. People want to avoid talking about sex at all costs because it’s deemed inappropriate or awkward, when we should be treating it as a fundamental part of life and its creation. Even asexual people will encounter sexual situations in their lives, and if they don’t understand what’s happening, they’re unsafe.

I recently had to explain to my friend, who is a 19-year-old college sophomore, how babies were conceived. That is both terrifying and dangerous. If there are any parents reading this that refuse to give their children “the talk” because it’s awkward or because you trust them to find out in the back of the big yellow school bus, you are the problem. This happens with more people than you would care to find out you know.

Teenagers are experiencing sexuality younger and younger and if they aren’t equipped with the correct information about what is happening, they will be unable to protect themselves or even prevent the situation from happening altogether. Again, you don’t have to sit your toddler down to have this conversation. But when they ask questions, be as honest as you can. Ignorance does not equate to safety.

While “Storks” may be a sweet film about the importance of family, it perpetuates a lie that endangers people with misinformation every day. Don’t feed into it.