With the advances of modern technology, comes a whole new world of education. It used to be that parents had a lot of control over what their kids and teens were learning. Unfortunately, that isn't really the case anymore. Parenting teens is much more difficult now, even if you can control what kind of technology your kids are using, and what kind of information they are getting from it, you can't control the kind of education their friends are getting from it, and in turn sharing with your kids.
Our focus today is on educating teens about teen sexuality and teenage pregnancy. Sex, sex, sex, just say it! Sex is a fact of life. Sex education has to come from somewhere. Depending on your age, your culture, your religious background, etc. how you first learned about sex is probably very different from how your friend, neighbor, parents, and others learned about it. Kids today are exposed to sexual innuendos from a very young age. True they don't necessarily understand it, but even animated movies made for children often carry some type of sexual content or message within the story. Other places your children and teens are being exposed to sex: TV, the Internet, music, magazines, friends, newspapers, etc. Even cell phones, with forwarded text messages, sexting, and more. Think of any type of media out there and you will find that it is a conduit for sexual information.
That said, how and where do you want your teens to learn about sex? Maybe you are embarrassed to talk to them about it. Maybe you feel like you don't know enough about it yourself. The great news is that there is a TON of useful information out there to help parents talk to their teens about sex and sexual activity. Handbooks, full length books, news articles, websites, written by experts interested in helping you help your teens. Learn about teen sex statistics. Don't be afraid, get some information and then sit your teens down and have an open and honest discussion with them. When they see that you are willing to talk to them about it, they will be much more willing to come to you when they have questions. Show them that you trust them and care enough about them, to teach them what they need to know. In this way, you do have some control over what they are learning. If you tell them about teen pregnancy statistics and talk to them about sexually transmitted diseases as well as the emotional aspect of sex, then, when they start learning about sex bracelets at school, or get a sex related text, they will know what it is, what it means, and be able to make an informed choice about what they want to do with it.
Let's face it, we all have to make our own choices. We all make choices our parents don't agree with at times. If you want your children and teens to make choices that are going to keep them safe and healthy, after all that is what is really important, you have to give them the information they need to make those choices. If they understand what sex is, how teen pregnancy can be prevented and what to do to protect themselves from STDs, then they may still chose to participate in teen sex, but at least they will be doing so in a safe and educated way.
