by Touche N. D'Head

Created on: March 06, 2007   Last Updated: April 25, 2007

Some mothers and fathers shy away from the idea of discussing sex with their teenagers. This leaves the public school system to teach them everything that they wish to know about sex.
If you allow the public school system to teach your children about sex, they also teach them about preventatives, but very seldom about abstinence. It may be mentioned on the side, but it is not part of the curriculum. This is extremely sad, because the truth is that abstinence is the only 100% guaranteed method of prevention.

You know this, but are you brave enough to impart it to your teens? They are in a world where sex is exalted. Who will convince them that it is best to wait if you don't talk to them?
Even if you are embarrassed to speak to your children about sex, do your best not to show it. Teens nowadays likely know almost as much about sex as you do. They are not usually embarrassed. If you are, it leads two directions. Either you make your child embarrassed, and your talk' falls entirely to pieces, or you make them scornful of your embarrassment.
I remember when my father gave me the talk'. He borrowed some books on midwifery from the local library, sat down with me and carefully explained to me exactly what happened. There was none of the garbage about pelicans or cabbage patches. He showed me the diagrams in the books when I got confused. I admit, at the age of six I found it rather disgusting, but he showed me how to look up the answers to any questions that I might have later. I had quite a few questions, and those books told me everything from how to get a girl pregnant to how the baby looked in the third trimester how to massage my wife's feet while she is in labor.
I much preferred my father's method to the school system's method. He, at least, was respectful of sex and made sure that I knew, even at that young age, that it was something to be done only when the individuals shared true love.
The public school's method has nothing to do with their Sex Education program. I guarantee that even if you never say a word to your kids about sex, they will know all about it before they get anywhere near Sex-Ed. Information like that spreads like wildfire through public schools. It is revered, joked about, experimented with, and talked about in loud voices from fourth grade through college.
Would you prefer that your child learn about sex from their first girlfriend, or from you?

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