Discussing sex and breaking down the birds and the bees is an uncomfortable matter for most parents. Its a tough conversation that must be had. If you haven’t had the talk yet, now is the time to get your spill together.
Kids are bombarded with sex and sexual imagery every day!
If your kid goes to school, listens to music, watches television, music videos, movies, reads magazines, and/or goes online (has a myspace profile), chances are… your kid is regularly exposed to sexually charged material.
We all know how impressionable kids are and how naive they can be, parents have a duty to teach and instruct their children in all matters of life, including sex. I’m not saying provide kids with detailed how to instructions!
The basic Who, What, When, Where, Why; conversation must be had. That same conversation should also touch on both the pleasure and dangers, as well as possible consequences and repercussions.
Because sex is so prominent in American culture, some kids seem to have a cavalier and reckless attitude about sex.
According to the CDC, “435,427 infants were born to mothers aged 15–19 years in 2006. More than 80% of these births were unintended.” This doesn’t even touch on sexually transmitted diseases.
When I was in high school the only pact girls were making… was NOT to get pregnant, now teenagers are supposedly making pacts to get pregnant!
I wonder how many teens are aware of the CDC’s findings that “teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and more likely to live in poverty than other teens.”
Its up to parents to make sure that their children are educated about sex, safe sex, abstinence, intimacy, relationships, and responsibilities.
Parents must get over the discomforts of discussing sex with their kids. Todays kids need accurate information to make responsible and well informed decisions. When parents establish open honest communication with their kids, it creates opportunities for:
- Building trust.
- Teaching moral values
- Setting moral boundaries.
- Dispelling myths.
- Discussing expectations.
- Outlining responsibilities.
Talk to your kids! Ask questions. Answer questions. Establish open communication before its too late! Having the dreaded sex talk empowers your child and can even protect them from not just unintended pregnancies or STD’s but also against sexual predators.
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40 Responses to “Have You Talked to Your Kids About Sex?”
Living Life Abundantly Adventures
I don’t have kids yet, but if ever I have one, I’ll discuss this thing to them. I believe that sex education should be taught to children for them to have knowledge especially now that teenage pregnancy and abortion are increasing in numbers.
Perhaps this was the most embarrassing issue to talk with kids but it is not now. In these days our kids know so much about sex by modern media and gatherings. I think we can’t avoid such discussions in these days for survival of our kids.
Its a big issue to discuss about nowadays.Thanks for the post.Gained a lot of knowledge about sex education today.Nice blog.Keep it up:)
well i guess schools dont cover that nowadays… at least not as extensively as they should. plus stuff like that at school wont even be taken seriously. good points
Thank you for sharing your insight. My parent’s really don’t talked about this when I was young and I think it is much better.
It’s a very uncomfortable topic allright. My personal stand about kids and sex is: I only answer if asked. That’s just as far as I can be. Perhaps other parents can be more liberal and frank, that’s okay. To each his own.
My son is 9 and still gets the tape of his birth out every year on his birthday. I am a childbirth educator, so my son has grown up watching birth videos and loving the sight of breastfeeding babies. I am trying very hard not to instill our society’s hang-ups about the human body, birth, sex, etc. It’s not always easy in our culture!
Wow, that video was sad. I can’t believe the ages some of these girls are having babies at. It just isn’t an ideal situation. No money, no diploma, plus you run the risk of stunting your own growth and all sorts of birth defects. I will definitely talk to my children about this.
Oh, that is not a conversation that I’m looking forward to … but I know it has to be done. Interesting video too.
I have been hearing A LOT about this topic through the news lately. These young people have no idea what they are getting themselves into!
Great post by the way!
Yeah! I’m so sad about that too. A lot of my friends are having a baby without a diploma too and It’s really hard for them.
What should I do if I don’t have kids, but my girlfriend does?
I did teach my kids about sex and it was not so problem. Its a very think full post.
No money, no diploma, plus you run the risk of stunting your own growth and all sorts of birth defects. I will definitely talk to my children about this.
I don’t think you should talk to her kids. That should be her responsibility.
I’m from Australia and over here there is a big debate about the sexualization of kids in advertising. If you don’t talk to them about it they’re going to learn one way or the other, probably from advertising images
Like many things we are not comfortable to begin with, speaking to your children about sex just needs a good start.
It’s not about whose responsibility but rather a question of whether it is necessary to talk or not. I agree with that it’s good to instill sex knowledge into kids’ minds because they would still be exposed to it someday. It’s like learning piano, do it when you’re still a kid or your fingers will be numb to learn fast !!
Its always sad to hear how parents treat their kids. Parents expect that school will raise them, or relatives. They dont want the burden and blame everyone else if something bad happens.
Its a very bad situation for kids, and there wouldnt be as half teen pregnancies as now if those teenagers talked openly with their parents about sex and about what is life.
I wouldn’t talk to my kids at the moment about sex as they are below 6 years old. I will slowly let them know as they grow older, maybe like 10 – 12 years old. Need to tactful let them know is a skill to be learn. Don’t wish them to do things that are wrong and regret forever in life.
Well, guess all parents are the same =)
Providing our kids with age appropriate books that supported our values worked well for us. They definitely wanted information. What surprised me most was we didn’t have to go too deep into “icky” details to give them the answers they needed.
I guess that parents are expecting that the school, friends and anybody except the parents will educate and teach the children about sex. I think that the children would like to talk about it in a descrete way but the parents are afraid of getting the wrong questions about some sensitive issues. My advice is to keep a close dialouge and make your kids reassured that they always can come and talk to you.. trust and confidence is neeeded
Parents who don’t talk to their children and sex and the consequences are doing their children a great disservice.
The whole pregnancy pact thing in the news should be a wake up call for parents of teenagers.
I’ve had about 30 years of people bleating about giving kids sex education, and what is the result? MORE illegitimate children and broken homes.
Remain a virgin until you marry, in a church, someone you truly love, and whose faults you accept. All else will likely lead to misery.
I have the impression that hippy parents scandalise their kids by giving them the gory details (too) early on, with no religious background. The results are not likely to be pleasant.
They have the idea that ‘the establishment’ isn’t ‘telling it like it is’. They don’t seem to consider that _they_ could be in error, and that those old squares whose marriages lasted until the day they died might have known a trick or two.
I talked to my doughters. And I think it’s better to talk to them.
Well, it’s almost impossible to block all the spams and links to adult page on the internet. My kids are exposed to sexuality anytime they are on the web. Even cartoon-network has some sexuality if you go 2 more steps further. All I can think of is that good and early education is the best way.
That’s why I just have a dog and 2 cats. Haha. The internet is a seedy place to roam around in unprotected, that’s for sure- Grixon
Talking about the sex with the kids is so uncomfortable thing to me whether I teach some sex knowledge to my daughter.
In my opinion the subject should be brought to the kids as soon as the time comes. This way you can avoid bad surprises.
I think the age when you should start aproaching this subject is around 10-11 years old. Starting to soon can be extremly negative, because you should follow kids interests and curiosity not oyur own agenda.
I agree with this comments that we should talk about seax with our child in certain period.
I have talked about it to my kids and all people should do that
All I can think of is that good and early education is the best way.
Thats a crazy story. What happened to these kids parents and since when did “pregnancy pacts” become fashionable? The world is getting crazier by the day lol.
I’m just surprised that with so much information out there, and it’s so accessible with the internet, that parents aren’t talking to their kids about it. They’re going to get the information one way or another, so they may as well get correct info from a role model.
I showed my crotchy once but they put in in jail-what gives?
I am trying very hard not to instill our society's hang-ups about the human body, birth, sex, etc. It's not always easy in our culture!My advice is to keep a close dialogue and make your kids reassured that they always can come and talk to you.
The local school in Ogden, Utah had a big controversy recently over sex ed – a teacher taught students how to put on condoms and a lot of parents were very upset over it. I think the more knowledge, the better though!
It's always awkard to talk about this thing with kids, we always want them to be children.
I think that the children would like to talk about it in a descrete way but the parents are afraid of getting the wrong questions about some sensitive issues. My advice is to keep a close dialouge and make your kids reassured that they always can come and talk to you