Do You Know?

Mum and dad are the best teachers

An article, titled "Adolescents and sex: ask mum and dad", was published by Melbourne-based newspaper The Age on September 8, 2005. The article was written by Michael Carr-Gregg, an adolescent psychologist who works at Australia's Albert Road Center for Health and who is the author of "Surviving Adolescents -- the must have manual for all parents".

Carr-Gregg suggests in this article that the best sex education for young adolescents should be from parents and legal guardians. While schools may also provide helpful sex education materials, many teachers still feel reluctant talking about sex in front of their teenage students.

Carr-Gregg continues to argue that in both families and schools, "the lack of good sex education seems based on the ill-founded sentiment that sex education will promote earlier sexual activity". A lack of good sex education is believed to be one of the major reasons for the high rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among teenagers in Australia and other countries.

According to Carr-Gregg, our teenagers are exposed to a wide range of confusing messages about sex and sexuality in their daily lives. Their parents and teachers often emphasize on the risks and dangers of sexual activity. Yet, these teenagers may also get the idea from media coverage that being sexually active is to be attractive and mature.

"It is up to parents to create an environment where young people can comfortably talk about sexuality," Carr-Gregg points out. Indeed, parents should understand that their children need privacy to explore new feelings and ideas. But parents should also look for ways to show their support, by letting their children know that they can always ask questions and receive helpful answers.

Most importantly, Carr-Gregg suggests that "parents should firmly and consistently try and counter the five biggest misconceptions: that everyone is having sex; that safe sex equals condom use; that everyone is heterosexual; that young people can't get the pill without their parents' permission; that they are not at risk of [sexually transmitted infections]".

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