LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX. PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND MARKS “LET’S TALK MONTH” BY ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO ENHANCE “THE TALK” WITH ONGOING CONVERSATIONS

(New Haven, Conn.) — October marks Let’s Talk Month, which is aimed at getting families talking about sexuality and relationships. This year Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) is encouraging parents to go beyond “the talk” and have ongoing conversations throughout their children’s lives about critical topics that can help young people make healthy decisions.

 

“Parents need to be direct and specific when discussing topics of sexuality with their children, and they need to start before they become sexually active,” said Judy Tabar President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. “These conversations should be ongoing and reflect their child’s age. Pop culture, like television shows you both watch, can be a way to continually introduce these topics of sexuality into family discussions.”

 

Planned Parenthood and New York University’s Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health surveyed parents and their children aged 9-21 to investigate how families communicate about sexuality and relationships. The 2014 Let’s Talk Month survey shows that while most parents are talking about sexuality and relationships with their children, too many are not talking often enough or in enough detail. For example:

 

• Over 20 percent of parents have never talked with their teen about strategies for saying no to sex, birth control methods or where to get accurate sexual health information. Over 30 percent of parents have never talked with their teens about where to get reproductive health care services. These are crucial topics for parents to discuss with their teens.
• The majority of parents (61 percent) report wanting young people to wait to have sex until they are ready to handle the responsibilities that come from having a sexual relationship — far more than those who support waiting until marriage (45 percent). However, only 52 percent of parents report ever talking about these values explicitly with their child. Parents need to more clearly communicate their values to their children.
• Parents tend to know when their teens are having sexual intercourse, but not when they are having oral sex. Among teens and young adults 15-21 who reported having vaginal sex, 91 percent of their parents knew. However, among those reporting having oral sex, only 40 percent of their parents knew. It’s important that parents ask clear, direct questions so they know what’s going on in their teens’ lives instead of guessing.

 

“The 2014 Let’s Talk Month survey reveals that it is important that parents ask clear, direct questions about relationships and sexual activity so they know what is happening in their child’s life and can share their own values just as clearly,” said Tabar.

 

Planned Parenthood is here to help parents and their children talk more often and more in-depth about the things that matter. Parents can make a real difference in their teen’s sexual decision making by talking about whether or not their teen is ready for a sexual relationship and why; emotions that accompany having sex; what to expect from sexual relationships; and the advantages and disadvantages of having sex. PPSNE is committed to making sure that parents can address these important elements of decision making with their children, as well as their own beliefs and values about sexuality and relationships.

At PPSNE, the Real Life. Real Talk. education program provides parents the tools and information to talk with their children about sex and sexuality. Real Life. Real Talk. is a 90-minute parent/child communication program to help caregivers build skills around sexuality and sexual health so that they feel comfortable imparting medically accurate, age-appropriate and developmentally-targeted information to their children.

The public is invited to attend the following Real Life. Real Talk. sessions:

• Saturday, November 1, 11 AM

Gateway Community College

20 Church Street

New Haven, CT 06510

 

• Tuesday, November 4, 5:30 PM

Windham Middle School (Spanish language session)

123 Quarry Street

Willimantic, CT 06226

 

• Thursday, November 6, 6 PM

New Haven Free Public Library

133 Elm Street

New Haven, CT 06510

 

• Monday, November 10, 6 PM

Knight Memorial Library

275 Elmwood Avenue

Providence, RI 02907

 

• Wednesday, November 12, 5:30 PM

Windham Middle School

123 Quarry Street

Willimantic, CT 06226

 

• Monday, November 24, 6 PM

Mt. Pleasant Library (Spanish language session)

315 Academy Avenue

Providence, RI 02908