Too young for knowledge?

I'm grateful that my parents did not restrict what I watched or read at any point in my life. I don't know if it is the right decision for every child, but it definitely was the one for me. I was not traumatized by watching some of the movies that I saw. I'm a little prone to nightmares anyway (as an adult I had nightmares for a week after seeing Titanic), but I think in my case the nightmares would have been sparked whether or not I had seen anything that others would consider inappropriate for a child. When it came to reading, I remember one of the ladies I babysat for used to regularly lend me books, and she was the first person I ever ran across that even thought to censor my reading material (Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear and I was 13) and she just made me ask my mom if it was alright for me to read it. My mother's response was to wonder why I would be asking. I'm also fairly sure that my parents never worried about what they discussed in front of us and my mom always answered questions when I asked them. Well, in one instance where I asked what masturbation was in church at around age eight after reading the word in a question in Catholic Digest, she did put it off until later. I really believe that never trying to dampen my curiosity or steer me away from what I wanted to know is the reason for my continuing to always strive for knowledge and my creativity. I hope that I remember this when it comes to my girls and do my best not to discourage their curiosity when I come across these situations when they are older.