Parents And Sex Education
Parents of adolescent boys and girls can play an important role in imparting sex education to them, in the cases where the subject being neglected in schools. However, most often parents feel shy or embarrassed to discuss sex with their children.
There is evidence to show that whenever the parents had been able to break the mindset and talked openly with their children to share their knowledge about sex education, children not only listened to them, but also followed their advice and had resorted to them to sort out their feelings on the subject.
Here are a few guidelines for the parents to follow in order to be able to feel more comfortable with their children and give them sex education:
A good age to start having discussions on the topic is when they are most drawn to sexual behaviors, in their adolescence.
It is not only important to teach them what can happen, but it is as important to teach them birth control as well.
Don’t be afraid to talk to your children. Talking about sex and other things like drugs etc can help your children take their own decisions.
Incase you feel afraid or embarrassed to talk to your children, take the help of a medical practitioner to explain these things to your children.
Children look up to their parents for the right knowledge. Hence it will help them tremendously if the parents get their facts right before talking to their children.
Always remember, your children’s life decisions could depend on the knowledge you will be sharing with them. Keeping this in mind will help you to overcome any fear or embarrassment you may feel about sex education.
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SOURCE: British Journal of Urology International
Revision date: July 7, 2011
Last revised: by Jorge P. Ribeiro, MD