Parents Role in Teenage Sexual Education
Being a parent is one of the biggest joys that a person can have, but as your child develops and matures so do the challenges you face as a parent. The adolescent years for teenagers are filled with numerous challenges, the biggest possibly being their sexual development/education and the effect it will play in their lives. A teen usually begins learning about sexuality at home where their parents will have a number of opportunities to discuss their sexual development and a number of other issues that they will face. For many parents sex is a topic they’d rather avoid due to their own anxiety and embarrassment with the subject; however parents must be aware this could be a mistake that could significantly affect your teen’s future. With all the outside influences that effect teenagers decisions such as friends, school, books and various media sources if parents aren’t stepping in to guide their teens sexual development someone else maybe doing the job for them. Parents often times have a hard time believing that their teen may be contemplating a sexual experience and chose not to raise the issue. But studies show that often time’s parents already know their child is sexually active based on changes in behavior or patterns, so why avoid the opportunity to positively impact their sexual behavior? For most parents they are simply not comfortable openly discussing the topic and this can leave teens with a void and chance to be influenced from negative outside sources. When most parents were growing up their parents may have avoided the conversations so they may not know how to properly introduce the topic with their teens, but today media plays a much larger role in our lives then previous generations and with the overwhelming amount of sex displayed to teens through media sources parents must not only keep the communication lines open, but step outside of their comfort zone and educate their teens on this critical issue. For parents who do communication
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