Growing up in a strict Catholic family, the "sex talk" was limited. It only included the bare minimum. How man and woman were allowed to engage in sex for the purpose of creating a baby, with the added emphasis that such act only should occur after marriage. The awkward, and brief 3 minute talk concluded with, "do you have any questions?'

WHAT!?! Of course I had questions. How did the sex act start off? Did it hurt? Where do the parts go? I had tons of questions, but wanting to end the torture for my parent and myself, I simply shook my head no. So from then on I had a vague sense of what sex was. No clue what an STD was, and sure that if I took part in this act, I was going to hell.

Fast forward to freshman year of college, and I'm surrounded by carefree sex. By campus wide STD testing. I knew instantly, my parents didn't prepare me for this world. So, I was left with questioning my promiscuous roommate. With hearing stories of the girl who dropped out of school due to some scary STD. To grabbing every pamphlet on sex from the campus nurse anytime I went in.

So, when to talk to your kids about sex and STDs? The only answer, before the rest of society gets a chance to warp heir perspective. I believe the "talk" should begin at a young age. The level of course should be tempered for the appropriate age, but the talk should be happening. With today's high paced lifestyle and carefree attitude about sex, it's a guarantee your teen will hear about sex and STDs long before you are ready for them to. So, ensuring the topic of sex is not some awkward event, and that it is an ongoing discussion, start early with the concept.

With the sex topic, it is better to be straight forward an realistic about the act. Teens can see through a parents attempts of sticking in morale rules and restrictions. While these are important, the sex talk should be a little more liberal and the morale talk could probably follow soon after. Give your teen a realistic view of sex, not the fantasy view they see on TV, or the extreme view they may have seen on the Internet.

When it comes to the STDs, I believe a straight forward approach is also best. I think parents are too often afraid of the subject themselves or just uneducated. So, prepare yourself. Obviously don't approach it as a doomsday scenario. But point out the negatives and the best ways to avoid the problem.

Finally, end with an option to talk about the topic later. Give your teen an out, but make sure they know no question is too embarrassing and that they can talk about this at anytime. Be there to provide your teen with the correct and realistic information and you'll hopefully prevent them from following whet the rest of society and entertainment is pushing.

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