[Banned-hason]

Having “The Talk” about sex with your kids is something most parents approach with a combination of nervousness and dread. You don’t want to confuse your kids or embarrass yourself by talking about too much too soon, but don’t want to miss an opportunity to educate them either. So how do you figure out what information to give them, and when?

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[Dr. Annalise Halstead]

What I have found during my years of teaching is that many parents do not talk to their children about sex until something happens -- STI/STD's, pregnancies, etc.

The main problem is the perception society has about sex -- that it's dirty and must be hidden until marriage. This is not the correct message.

What I suggest to the parents I counsel about talking to their children about sex is for the parent to be comfortable with the whole notion of sex themselves. Many times the parents I counsel have many hang ups and these unhealthy attitudes are passed on to the children.

Talking to your child does not have to be scary and you have done a great job emphasizing this in your piece. Great job!

[Ambit_Energy]

And with this is rally hard especially that I am a dad to talk about sex with my daughter which is a 13 y.o.

[afairfield]

I'm not sure if this topic has been explored on here yet but we're still talking about it quite a bit. As some of you may know the FDA was set to approve emergency contraception (prevents pregnancy - not an abortion pill) without a prescription so teens who have had unprotected sex could access it and prevent becoming pregnant. The FDA's decision was overruled by Secretary Sebelius, the head of Health and Human Services. Anyway, if you're not familiar with it, there's more much more information here: www.facebook.com/MyTeenKnows. Very helpful.

[mom of many]

I was a very young mother. 15yrs old when I got pregnant, 16 when I delivered. Since I was so young I was always open about sex. I talked about my regrets, just tell me you need birth control so you don't end up like me, and tried hard not to make it as uncomfortable as possible for them to come and talk with me. I do NOT question or judge when they did come to me. If my teenager wanted to have sex, I would ask if they were sure this person was "The One?" Once you give it away you can never get it back. It's the one thing in your life that you have control over. Most times that worked and made them think the person was just not worth "their goods." When they came to me again I would listen and take them in for a GYN appt. I leave them to talk privetly with the doc and try not to pry. I would rather prevent an unwanted pregnancy then to try to fight them with morals. If you all remember, as a teen we knew everything!! When I turned 25 I got a huge reality check! Just remember to pick your battles. You can be in the know or you can not have a clue until they drop the bomb.

[gr070303]

I'm a mother of a 13 yr old daughter and I have this concern as well. Don't really know when to open up to her about the subject of sex. I asked her once if she has an idea of what it is she said yes and learned about it from friends in school. Being that it is such a complicated topic, I don't know where to start.