In the month of valentines, it's a good time to think about how to support your adolescent in developing healthy attitudes and behaviors around sex. In younger years, sex education was wholly theoretical, but in the teen years that can change rapidly. Recent surveys show that almost half of U.S. teenagers aged 15-19 have had sexual intercourse. Regardless of whether we want this to be true, it is best to educate our and prepare our kids based on reality, rather than sticking our heads in the sand. In fact, while parents may worry that talking about sex will spark curiosity and experimentation, the opposite is true – children whose parents talk to them about sex tend engage in sexual activity at a later age, and when they do so they do it more safely.
And, even if your child knows about the mechanics of sex, there’s so much more to helping them gain a solid understanding of romance, sex, and sexuality, grounded in positive relationships, values, and self-regard. This foundation is strongest when they can have open and shame-free conversations with you.
Eventually, your child is going to grow up into a sexually active adult. Your adolescent may be closer than you'd like, or in fact already there. This may be is uncomfortable to acknowledge, because it is a big step in the their process of differentiating from you and ultimately becoming an independent person.
It's also true that sexual health education impacts youth in a positive way. Young people who receive factual, comprehensive sex ed are more likely to delay the initiation of sexual intercourse and have fewer sex partners. They also typically have less unprotected sex and are more likely to use birth control and sexually transmitted infection and disease (STI/STD) protection (condoms).
The Centers for Disease Control recommends sexual health education that is medically and scientifically accurate, appropriate to a child’s developmental stage, and culturally inclusive. Here are some of the reasons to take a deep breath and get more comfortable with this topic:
Sex education can improve your teen's health and well-being. Kids who are well informed tend to protect their sexual health and have better boundaries in their early relationships. Scare tactics (disease, heartbreak) on the other hand, to try to dissuade kids from interest in sex, do not function as well.
Sex education improves public health outcomes. When young people have accurate information and are given time to practice, assess, and reflect on what they’re being taught, they gain independence, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills which can decrease rates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), STIs/STDs, and unintended pregnancy.
Sex education can improve academic performance. It may seem strange that sex ed can help your child out in school, but it’s true. In one study, a community-based sex education program parlayed teen interest in sexuality into increased general academic skills and expanded their career goals.
Recent surveys found that almost half of U.S. teenagers aged 15-19 had had sexual intercourse. These rates which were assessed in 2015-2017 are actually down from 15 years ago when they were well above 50%. More recently 42% of never-married female teenagers and 38% of never-married male teenagers had had sexual intercourse.
Most young people who have sex use contraceptives. In 2015–2017, 78% of females and 89% of males aged 15–24 who had their first sexual intercourse before age 20 used contraception the first time.
