Sex Talk with Their Children

Parent's Perspective &  the Sex Talk with Their Children

The Sex Talk

Remember talking with your parents’ about the ‘birds and the bees?” Maybe that discussion never occurred because your parents’ vaguely skimmed over the sex education topic or they were too uncomfortable discussing “sex” with you at all. What parents don’t realize is that talks about sex education with their children can significantly affect sexual behavior in a positive way. Unfortunately, most parents do not talk to their children about sex because parents feel it’s a very awkward discussion to have with a child. ”In a study,  researchers found that more than 40% of adolescents had intercourse before talking to their parents about safe sex, birth control or sexually transmitted diseases.”

Though it may not be apparent, kids would prefer to learn about sex from their parents. This study was done as a wake-up call to parents, who are not discussing important issues with their children, before unwise sexual choices are made.

“The “Qualitative Study” involved 141 family’s who enrolled in the Talking Parents, Healthy Teens Program, organized by the University of California Los Angeles/Rand Center for Adolescent Health Promotion and overseen by Dr. Mark Schuster.”

Separate groups were conducted for mothers and fathers, and for black, white and his panic parents. Content analysis was used to identify core themes and patterns. “Children ages 13-17 and their parents’ responded to questions concerning 24 issues regarding sex and sexuality, including how women become pregnant, body changes that occur during puberty, how to use condoms and birth control and issues around homosexuality.”

Parents and their children were separately asked by researchers, when they had first discussed each of the topics listed, and compared the information to each of the teens self-report about their engagement in three specific areas of sexual behavior---hand holding or kissing; genital touching or oral sex; and intercourse. Four times, all the families who participated were surveyed, once at the beginning of the study, then again at three, six and twelve months.

Once the study was completed, “more than half of the parents admitted that they had not discussed 14 out of the 24 sex related topics by the time their adolescents had begun genital touching or oral sex with partners.” The effectiveness of birth control had not been discussed by 42% of girls reported and 40% admitted they had not talked with their parent’s about how to refuse sex before engaging in genital touching. It was very interesting to find that 70% of boys said, they had not discussed how to use a condom or any other birth control methods with their parents before having sexual intercourse.

Contrary to the girl’s parents’, only half of the boy’s parents’ said they had not discussed condom use or birth control with their sons.

We can clearly understand that talking about sex with our children is an area of importance we need to initiate, develop and support our children. Sounds like parents need support with approaching the topic, but we will discuss this issue in article 2.

What’s a bit humorous about the study is that many parents believed they had already had the conversation about sex with their children, but when the children were surveyed, they had no recollection of the parent-child dialogue about sex.

Parents sometimes say things more vaguely because they are uncomfortable and they believe they have addressed the topic, but the kids don’t hear the topic at all.”

A researcher has three children of her own and she makes a very personal remark of how she views the difficulty of discussing sex with children, “Your kids look at you like you are crazy and you feel like you want to run.”

One of the important facts that the study revealed was that the parent-child sex dialogue needs to happen much sooner than they have been occurring. There are sex conversations that are age appropriate, depending on the age of the child. For example, we should not talk about contraceptive/birth control methods with children who are the ages of 10 to 13 years old or oral sex. Youth 15-18 years old would have a more involved conversation about sex and their choices.

As parents, we should attentively listen to our children when they ask questions about sex and openly answer their questions. Parents should be cognizant of open opportunities to initiate “sex talk” conversations with their children. A good example would be, possibly a young extended family member gets pregnant or a permission slip needs a signature from a parent, due to your child participating in the “sex education” class in school.

Parents should take advantage of these moments and elaborate extensively about the “sex talk,” of course with taking into consideration how much your child can absorb.

Results were that parents believed, it was very important to talk with their children about sex and developing a good parent/child relationship was a key factor. If the parent/child relationship is strong, the discussion about sex may begin when the child is young. Parents must also take into consideration that these conversations are continuous,

The studies are  concluded that interventions aimed at encouraging parents to talk to their children about sex, should enhance a parents’ understanding of the various stages of children’s sexual development and focus on the parent’s of young children. Interventions should support parents in a range of strategies that complement discussions about sex.

Critique of the Article

 You are aware that the results found from the researches very important in this line.The article concerning “Parents Sex Talk with Kids” was a very eye opening piece of research that was conducted with parents and their children. It was a very relevant and necessary study for participants to be involved.

Why? Well first and foremost the topic of “sex” is affecting our day to day lives as we encounter social problems regarding sex, such as; high pregnancy rates, homosexuality, sexual transmitted diseases, drug abuse, adoption, foster care, teen pregnancy, child abandonment issues, sexual abuse, child abuse and the list goes on. These surveys along with data are critical because we need to know from a qualitative perspective, what the calculations are, who is doing what and who is involved To put it plain and simple, we need to care enough to make a difference.

What I have learned is that we need to talk to our children, not just the parents, but parents need to have access to a support system of professionals like, doctors, therapists, workshops, support groups, study groups, etc. As a matter of fact, It takes a team, community, family, togetherness and love, to get our young people off to a good start in life.

When article was thorough in demonstrating what the numbers and percentages portrayed, along with what the specific problems were around the topic. It would have been good to have seen specific dialogues between the parents and children, a sample of the questions being asked and how the parent and child responded to each other.

What feelings and emotions were present during the survey? Were the kids or parents demonstrating feelings of embarrassment, anger, shyness, frustration, humor, etc. The article had a real sincere, realistic and honest approach. The people involved in the study appeared to be your everyday parents and children who were enthusiastic in participating and awaiting the end results.

It is my opinion that or  believe when people read the article, they will be reminded of the “necessity” of the “sex talk” conversation. We are so consumed with busy lifestyles that we forget to simply sit ourselves down and communicate with each other regarding topics of importance (family, finances, death, relationships, children). This article will definitely bring a conscious awareness to parents and their children, along with more research, studies, and the needed dialogue revolved around sex education.

“Parents’ Perspective

Sex Talk with their Kids” and . “Parents’ Perspective” is entitled, “Speakeasy: a worldwide initiative, raising parents confidence and ability to talk about sex and relationships with their children. The tool that parents needed to dialogue effectively with their children about sex. In Sex talk, it was mentioned how difficult it was for parents to talk about sex with their children. In Parents’ Perspective it mentioned how the Speakeasy course made it easier for parents to dialogue about sex with their kids. “

Education and support is the key to helping people succeed in challenged areas of their lives. Our young people need guidance in today’s troubled world and parents need direction in instructing their children in a confused and troubled society.

The article on Speakeasy courses gives hope and possibility to future generations. If Speakeasy courses become more popular in the United States; maybe we would decrease teen pregnancies, teen abortions, date rapes, teen sexual intercourse, etc.,

All because parents began the conversation in the comforts of home, at their child’s appropriate age, by getting support, by taking a Speakeasy course that educated parents on having progressive, productive dialogue with their children about sex.

SUGGETION

All the parents of middle  class family  are in a critical positon on the above mentioned  subject and no way to go through and  treat their child  regading SAX. A new idea of study is developed by the  publishers by the way of picture module, if these patient  try this module for their children, they  are foun good result.