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TALKING TO YOUR TEEN ABOUT SEX - Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D

Here is an informative article from Psychology Today on how to talk to your teen...





Valentine's Day seems like the right time to offer a few words of advice to parents about talking to preteens and young teenagers about sex. In fact, it's probably easier to do this before your teen has become sexually active than after.

Study after study shows that teenagers want more information about sex than they are getting. When asked how they would choose to learn about sex, nine out of ten say from their parents-yes, their parents-not from their friends or a health class or books. When asked if they actually talk to their parents about sex, however, only about one in ten says yes. The reason, according to most teenagers, is that their parents hold back.


Why are parents reluctant to discuss sex with their teenagers?

• "I don't want to encourage sex." Many parents believe that talking to young people about sex will lead to premature sexual activity; that children will interpret their parents' willingness to talk as permission to become sexually involved. Both beliefs are false. Researchers who have studied this question TO CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE CLICK HERE

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