An opportunity to focus on sexuality education

As the country’s largest sex education provider, Planned Parenthood speaks with parents every day about what they can do to keep their kids safe and healthy. We know that helping teens develop and maintain healthy relationships and avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections are crucial parts of the job that parents undertake in shepherding their children into successful adult lives.

Whenever we talk with parents, we convey that they can be very influential in their teens’ decision-making about relationships and that starting an ongoing dialogue with their kids about sexual health at an early age makes a real difference. Research shows that teens who report having good conversations with their parents about sex are more likely to delay sex, have fewer partners and use condoms and other birth control methods when they do have sex.

The good news is that a majority of parents are talking with their children, according to a new poll commissioned by Planned Parenthood and the Center for Latino and Family Health at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. In fact, the nationally representative poll, called “Let’s Talk: Are Parents Tackling Crucial Conversations about Sex?” shows that 82 percent of parents are talking with their kids about issues related to sex and sexual health.

Still, they aren’t always tackling the tough topics that are key to helping their teens delay sex or prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections should they become sexually active.

The poll — which queried more than 1,100 parents of kids ages 10 to 18 about their conversations with their children about sexuality and their support for sex education — found that parents appear more challenged talking to their kids about topics such as how to say no to sex and the importance of using birth control than they are talking about healthy relationships and their own values about when sex should and shouldn’t take place.

In addition, while 94 percent of parents believe they can influence whether or not their child uses condoms or other forms of birth control, only 60 percent are actually talking with their children about birth control. As a result, teens may not be getting all the information they need to protect their sexual health.

Planned Parenthood Health Systems has long worked to facilitate parents starting and continuing conversations with their children about sex and sexual health, offering sex education programs that reach some 1500 children, teens, and adults annually — 3.5 percent of Charlottesville’s entire population. Our “Are You an ‘Askable’ Parent” program empowers parents to become their child’s primary sex educator. Giving parents medically accurate, age appropriate information regarding sexuality and sexual health allows them to become “askable” parents and resources to their children.

One consistent message we hear from parents is that they want support for their efforts to protect their children’s health, and they want it in the form of comprehensive sex education in schools. That fact was once again reinforced by the results of the poll, which found that well over 90 percent of parents support comprehensive sex education being included in both middle and high schools.

What’s more, the vast majority of parents support information on birth control being included in sex education programs. These findings underscore the need for legislators to understand that effective sex education requires a tag-team effort between parents and trained educators. Just like kids need help from parents and teachers to excel at math, reading, writing, and the arts, children need a similar joint effort to be made on behalf of their sexual health.

Despite that clear reality and research such as our poll showing overwhelming parental support for comprehensive sex education, the majority of state sex education policies are out of step with parents’ beliefs and children’s needs. That’s why it’s important for parents and sex education providers to make their voices and sage advice heard.