The sex talk!

Yes, we have all been there - the awkward talk from our parents!

I came across this excellent site the other day - your sex health which is a great site - really young person friendly and chock-a-block full of information.

Here's some really interesting thoughts on how parents might see educating their kids on sex;

When families get talking, the topics are likely to span sport, school or your job, what's on TV or at the movies, or who you're hanging out with. But discussions sometimes dry up when the topic is sex.

Parents may want to discuss sex freely and frankly with their kids but lack the skills to know what to say and when to say it. Their children, as they approach adulthood, might feel awkward about raising the subject, and if their parents do it feels invasive of their privacy.

Even in couples where both parents see discussing sex as a shared responsibility, it's common for fathers to leave it to mothers.

It's normal for parents to approach the subject from different directions, according to their personal styles. Some prefer to wait for their children to start a discussion. Others like to keep it a two-way street, ready to either initiate a conversation or respond if their children raise the topic. Parents may wait until the subject comes up through school lessons or a family event or a TV show.

Many parents feel constrained by their own upbringings in how they approach discussing sex. It's not their fault - they're probably passing on some very powerful messages that they learned from their parents. Messages like:

- learning about sex only encourages you to do it

- having sex outside marriage is morally wrong

- nobody taught us about sex and we managed

- it's too personal to talk about- you don't need to know

- my children don't think about sex.

For parents, discussing sex often arouses concerns about their children taking steps towards independence and adulthood. They want their children to grow up but not too quickly.

If your parents aren't able to discuss sex in ways that you find helpful, don't blame them but don't be put off. You are entitled to good information and sound advice, even it doesn't always come from them. Other sources of help could include your doctor, counsellors at your local sex health clinic, school or university, books, reputable Internet sites (including yoursexhealth.org) and phone reproductive health hotlines.

Aren't the thoughts about why parents aviod the topic interesting?

How good would it be if sexual health was freely talked about in the family unit - from a young age?

Do you think we would see some better sexual health outcomes within our communities if sex was easily talked about?

How can we teach parents to just go for it!