By Mashum Mollah
STD’s are common among teenagers. Of all STD cases, teens make up around half.
As a parent, you know you can’t rely on others to tell your teen about sex. You’re the only one who can make sure your teen is practicing safe sex. That’s why it’s critical for you to be there, talking to them in the right way.
Teaching Teens the Art of Practicing Safe Sex:
Talking about the birds and the bees is one thing. But telling your teens how to have safe sex is different. It’s about telling them the risks and giving them the means to be safe.
1. Don’t Judge:
The number one thing to remember when talking to teens is to not judge. Teens are already afraid of going to their parents about personal subjects. If your teen thinks you’re going to get angry, they won’t come to you.
Being open and honest about sex is what will protect them more than anything. When they feel safe to talk about hard things, it’ll be easier for them to seek help.
2. Be Informational:
It can be difficult to talk about the details of sex and safety. But, if you’re afraid, where do you think they’ll learn about it?
Don’t shy away from giving them options for safe encounters. This includes ways to get out situations or reminding them about contraception.
Be informative about the risk of STD’s. Teens aren’t thinking that far ahead, and they need direction. You can even go so far as helping them with searches such as “STD Testing Near Me.”
Why? So, they’ll know what to do if worse comes to worst. The more open you are to them, the safer their experiences will be.
3. Teach Communication:
Consent and sexual safety start with communication. Where do teens learn their communication skills? They learn from their parents and their peers. Bad communication can set them up for difficult relationships.
Teach your kids the importance of permission, and the critical nature of communicating. Talking to a partner about safety is one of the most important lessons a teen can learn.
According to HTG Consultants, LLC it is important that parents spend a lot of time talking about the dangerous and sexually exploitative nature of criminals operating online. The web is a very dangerous place for young minds that can easily be manipulated to share indecent images, videos and more by sexual predators that are there. Having a sound discussion on the same at an early age is very important.
4. Keep the Past Out of It:
Sex makes us vulnerable. And a lot of people have had bad experiences with sex. It’s easy to let those insecurities and experiences affect how we talk about it.
As much as you can, try to keep the past in the past. Your experience doesn’t automatically mean your child will have the same. If you feel it’s important, warn them against some of the mistakes you made. But keep yourself out of it.
The reason is that you want to give your teen a clean slate to explore sex in a healthy manner. If they’re worried about your warnings, they might not feel free to figure these things out.
Talking About Sex And Sexuality With Your Children
Your child’s introduction on the topic of sex is important to remove the misinformation on the topic. You must realize that sex and sexuality are topics that should be comfortably discussed with your children.
Children are most comfortable with their parents, so when parents introduce this topic to them, they are comfortable starting a conversation around it. Your child’s understanding of sex and sexuality at a young age helps them build a natural understanding of the topic. They are not curious about it and seek information from other misguided sources.
Additionally, your child learns all the dos and don’ts surrounding sex. Furthermore, when you have an honest conversation about sex with your child, they grow up being comfortable around the topic. So, your child knows how to practice safe sex when you make them aware of it.
Here are three basic steps to introduce your child to the topic of sex and sexuality.
- Firstly, you must make your child understand what sex is. Let them understand the topic, and then you move on to making them understand sexuality. Try to make it simple for them to understand the topic.
- Secondly, if your child has queries on the topic, answer them. When you answer these queries, you remove any misinformation surrounding the topic.
- Lastly, you must make them understand that they can talk and ask you about sex whenever they want. So, your child knows someone with whom they can openly talk about the topic without judgment. Most adults find sex taboo because they were never introduced to the topic at a young age. So, let us change that for the next generation so our children learn about safe sex and protect themselves.
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions parents have on this topic. You might find these questions informative; therefore, we have provided these questions below.
If your child questions you about sex, you must answer it honestly and create an open space for the conversation to evolve.
Firstly, you shouldn’t giggle or laugh when they ask you about sex. Instead, you should answer them and remove misinformation around the topic that your child might have.
Secondly, you must keep the conversation light and ask them if they have any other questions.
Thirdly, you should keep your explanation brief and simple because children don’t understand complex explanations.
Fourthly, you must keep your conversation open and honest.
Lastly, you must observe your child’s reaction and response to your answer.
You must encourage your teenagers to have safe sex using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia, syphilis, trichomoniasis, and gonorrhea. Additionally, make your child understand viral infections because of unprotected sex, like HIV and HPV, which are non-curable diseases.
More Parenting:
Be the parent you wish you’d had when talking to your kids about practicing safe sex. Teens aren’t going to learn on their own; they need guidance. The guidance of an understanding and knowledgeable parent, to be exact.
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