ABC news reports on a new Harvard study, published in the medical journal, Pediatrics, which reveals that almost half of parents talk to their kids about safe sex too late.
Researchers surveyed teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 on how sexually active they were and on what they had discussed with their parents regarding sex and sex-related issues. 141 parents were also surveyed about the discussions they had had with their teens. The results suggested that parents are waiting too long to discuss sexual health with their kids: 40 percent waited to discuss safe sex with their kids AFTER their kids became sexually active.
Two thirds of sons said they didn't learn how to use a condom from their parents before becoming sexually active. Nearly a quarter of daughters said their parents hadn't discussed how to deal with resisting sexual pressure. Two in five said that their parents hadn't discussed contraception at all, or long after the girls had actually had sex. Other issues that weren't discussed in time included protecting against sexually transmitted diseases, and understanding when you're ready to have sex.
Dr. Mark Schuster of Children's Hospital Boston and co-author of the study says that parents "want to talk to kids but they don't know where to begin...they're afraid they'll make mistakes or don't know the facts, afraid to admit that their kids are growing up...they avoid the topic altogether."
There are some important implications that arise out of the study's results: namely, that parents may be trying to do the right thing by broaching a topic of conversation that may be difficult to have, but that at the end of the day, they're too late. Parents may be anxious about discussing sex too soon, and they're ending up discussing important sexual health issues after their kids have experienced sexual pressure, sexual mishaps and sex in general.
The moral of the story? Talk to your children about sex! It's a conversation that may be uncomfortable - but wouldn't you rather take discomfort over your kids getting STDs, having sex when they're not ready, and fumbling over birth control?
Nina Jacinto is a Bay Area based blogger whose writing focuses on racial justice, reproductive health and budget shopping! In addition to Empowher, she blogs at Stuff Under Twenty