The Facts – Sex Education DVD for parents of 15-17 year olds


Image by crisispregnancyprogramme
‘The Facts’ DVD has been designed by the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme to help parents, teachers and youth workers to provide sex education to young people.
It contains information on contraception (including a condom demonstration), STIs, crisis pregnancy and fertility.

To order a copy, parents in Ireland can freetext FACTS followed by their name and address to 50444.

For more information: www.crisispregnancy.ie/parentresource.html

BusyBodies Sex Education Resource for Parents of 10-14 year olds


Image by crisispregnancyprogramme
‘Busy Bodies- A book about puberty for you and your parents’ has been developed to provide appropriate information to 10-14 year olds in Ireland on the physical and emotional changes that they may experience during puberty.

To order a copy, parents in Ireland can FreeText BUSY followed by their name and address to 50444.

For more information: www.crisispregnancy.ie/parentresource.html

Parents Tips for Talking to Older Teenagers about Relationships and Sex


Image by crisispregnancyprogramme
‘Parents, Tips for Talking to Older Teenagers’ that was developed by the Crisis Pregnancy Programme to help parents of older adolescents talk to teenage children about relationships and sex by providing practical tips on communication and other relevant information.

To order a copy of the supplement, parents in Ireland can Freetext TALK followed by their name and address to 50444.

For more information:
www.crisispregnancy.ie/parentresource.html

You may adopt the following methods to educate a child about sex when his/her physical changes start surfacing.

1. The parents can guide the child as to how changes in body take place – function of each sex organ and the risks involved in playing mischief with the organs. The teachers, at school, can, during the course of studies, well upon the subject in a better way to unravel the so called mysteries and secrets of sex.

2. Let physiology be a compulsory subject in the school syllabus, so that more light is thrown upon the subject.

3. In the absence of sex-education at school or home, let there be display of audio cassettes which should be followed by video cassettes. Whatever the student has heard and, at a latter stage, when video cassettes are played, he would be able to correlate the audio and video versions. At this stage, the teacher should step in and reply to queries of his students and if all the inquisitive queries have been aptly replied to, the students will gain a lot.

4. A question answer session will solve most of the problems, relating to sex education.

5. Functions of sex organs should be explained fully. Here also audio video cassettes can easily achieve the desired result.

Modern youth, these days, have knowledge of what they ought not to know or practice but, they remain gained through porno, periodicals and magazines, serves to ignite their sexual passions and fantasies and to do practically whatever is revealed through the sex postures, depicted in such magazines, x-rated videos, movies etc. This is not a healthy way to sex education. It is simple a means to free sex where passion rides high, and all other sane and safety measures are neglected.

Young children stealthily read porno, literature which vitiates the mild and forces them to premature sex. Had such misguided youth been properly educate about sex, their craving and intensity to indulge in premarital sex would never have arisen. In young age one should acquire proper sex knowledge.

Whichever methods are adopted, to educate the youth on sex knowledge, emphasis should always be laid on educative and explicit process. We have to forewarn the youth about hazards and diseases involved in sexual activity keeping an eye on persuasive approach.

At some point, toddlers and pre-schoolers usually get curious about their own bodies. It’s best to let them explore and ask questions at their own pace. Parents can benefit from being honest and frank with children at these early ages. For instance, when a child becomes curious and asks about a body part, giving the proper body part name, rather than a “nickname” like some parents are inclined to try, or perhaps trying to avoid even addressing the questions. This may send a message of dishonesty or mistrust to the child once they get a bit older and realize mom or dad cannot seem to call it the proper body part name.

Also parents can benefit from taking any conversation about sexual awareness seriously, without joking or shame or embarrassment. It is the nature of children to be curious, and denying them this curiosity may affect the parent-child relationship and bond. As an example, many dads have never been able to even refer to female body parts with their daughters without some level of embarrassment or discomfort. Most times, this awkwardness started when their children were babies, and can affect the relationship for years.

Some children may ask a lot of questions. Especially in the most healthy parent-child relationships, a child may feel comfortable firing many questions at mom or dad. They may compare their genitals to a parent’s and ask questions about that. Many kids want to know where babies come from at early ages, as well. For parents that may not feel comfortable answering all of these queries directly, perhaps an indirect approach may work, like getting one of the many books written for toddlers and pre-schoolers on awareness of their bodies to help share information.

Toddlers and pre-schoolers can begin to understand the concept of “private” body parts. This is helpful as once they begin to explore themselves, they may also want to begin to explore with playmates. Curious exploration with others is also natural for children, and is mostly harmless. Children at these young ages can learn boundaries and be taught to set limits with issues about their bodies.

Masturbation is also natural at this age. This can be very shocking to many parents. Toddlers and pre-schoolers may even do this in public and at the most inappropriate times, as they are still exploring and unaware of the inappropriateness. Again, parents can benefit from not reacting to a child’s self-stimulation by joking, acting embarrassed or shameful. There will be many teaching moments to help children learn that these are private activities.

Dealing with these difficult conversations at early ages is vital for parents. As children get older, the questions about sex just get deeper and more complex. Parents should want children to depend on them (rather than friends) for information about sex. In trying to encourage healthy communication and a close parent-child relationship, parents can begin to earn trust and respect when their children are young. By forging this bond when children are at the toddler and pre-school age, parents can look forward to more trust from their child and a closer relationship when he or she gets older and into middle school and high school.