WHAT DO I DO AS A PARENT?"
"SO, WHAT DO I DO AS A PARENT?"
We're here to help you as a parent or a concerned adult. It is proven that the home environment and the relationship between parent and teen are both greater influences of teen sexual behavior than their hormones. In order to help teenagers make their own wise choices, parents must engage in clear, open communication with their children about sexuality, friendships and decision-making throughout their upbringing. It’s never too late to get started, but it’s always too late to say nothing.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, in partnership with seventeen magazine, conducted a survey of teenagers aged 15-17 and discovered that over half of all teenagers surveyed have never talked with a parent about sexual health issues (pregnancy, birth control and STDs) or the appropriate time someone is ready to have sex. 40% of sexually-active teens say their parents do not know they are sexually active.
Opening up communication with your teenager is the key. Yes, it can seem awkward to bring up these topics, but in order to help teenagers make good choices, we need to talk honestly and openly about love, sex and relationships. The writers of Hooked suggest understanding the culture, knowing the facts, and offering the healthiest and most effective help and support. To equip you with helpful information, please consult the resources we’ve compiled below this article.
Feel free to share your own experiences. Each of us have learned valuable life lessons from our own victories and failures. Even if you don’t have all the right answers, open communication is the goal.
An important part of communication is learning how to listen before talking back. Who wants to open up to someone who doesn’t take the time to truly listen with genuine concern? Allow a teen to talk; they actually have a lot to say.
Remember above all, you make a difference in your children’s lives. Your choices, actions, attitudes, behavior and communication skills will affect your children’s perspective on life, choices, moral intelligence and actions. They are watching and listening.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
(Assists in guiding your teenager to effective emotional communication)
Generation MySpace by Candace Kelsey
(Helping your teen navigate through and survive online adolescence)
Hooked by Dr. Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr. and Dr. Freda McKissic Bush
(Scientific facts on the affects of casual sex on our children)
The Primal Teen by Barbara Strauch
(What new discoveries about the teenage brain reveal about our kids)
So Sexy So Soon by Jean Kilbourne and Diane Levin
(How to protect your children in a sexualized childhood culture)
Unhooked by Laura Sessions Stepp
(How the casual sexual culture affects young women)
Why Do They Act That Way? by David Allen Walsh
(What happens to the human brain from childhood to adolescence to adulthood)
Why Genders Matter by Leonard Sax
(Provides concrete guidelines regarding the tough issues of child-rearing)
You’re Teaching My Child What? by Miriam Grossman
(A physician exposes the lies of sex education)
www.whatsgoodprogram.com
(We help teenagers make good choices for good health and a good future)
www.acgreen.com
(NBA Iron Man helps young people make good choices and build self-esteem/character)
www.greattowait.com
(From teenagers to teenagers about abstinence; espanol tambien)
www.micheleborba.com
(A parenting expert with a wide variety of resources)
www.thenationalcampaign.org
(National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy provides statistics and resources)
www.share-program.com
(Includes “How To Talk To Your Teen” information)