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Gloria explains how a young woman can approach her parents about birth control.
Gloria:
It’s a tough thing for a young person often to open a conversation with the parent, and one of the reasons that having a sex education program in the public school systems is helpful actually is that very often young people learn there how to open the dialogue with their parents. And I think oftentimes that part of it is not talked about, but it’s very real. I have heard that story over and over and over again over the years.
So, as hard as it is, the way to open a conversation is just to open a conversation, and to try to do it in a place where the parent is perhaps going to feel more comfortable. So maybe a one-on-one and not at the dinner table with three guests from out of town that you haven’t seen in 20 years or something like that, but to try to raise the conversation one-on-one and just to ask straightforwardly.
A teen also needs to understand that the thing that makes the parent nervous is that the parent is going to think, “Oh my goodness, my little girl is having sex.” Well, maybe as a teen you might want to reassure your mom before you start asking the question,\ and then that sort of will calm her down. And you know, the other thing is to make use of resources, again, like the Web, like a good Web site where you can sit down and say, “Look, I saw this information; what do you think about that?”
Or to take mom to Planned Parenthood and sit down with a nurse or go to your doctor, your OB/GYN, and ask them to sit down with you and have a chat together.
About Gloria Feldt:
Gloria Feldt is a nationally acclaimed activist, author, keynote speaker and commentator on women's lives, rights, health, and leadership from where the personal meets the political. She’s been dubbed "the voice of experience" by People Magazine, one of America’s “Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends, and Trailblazers” by Vanity Fair, “Woman of the Year” by Glamour, and a “practical visionary” by her colleagues. She was a teen mom whose life’s passion for reproductive justice led her to a 30-year career with the world's largest reproductive health care provider and advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood.
Visit Gloria Feldt at her Web site