How To Educate Our Kids About STD’s

We parents now need to know how to educate our kids about STD’s at a much younger age, than previously though appropriate.

According to the Diseases and Prevention Control in the US nearly half of all STD’s contracted are by those between the ages of 15-24.

When HIV first became prevalent we saw ad campaigns for safe sex absolutely everywhere. A few years back there was also a TV campaign against Genital Herpes, but as of late, there has been very little in the way of bringing young peoples attention to the fact that sexually transmitted diseases are still around and that they too are at risk.

Children & Young Teens At Higher Risks Of Contracting STD’s

Recently in the USA this eye opening report from Children’s Health NBC News stated that 1 in 4 teenage girls has contracted an STD.

Do you think that today’s average 12 year old would know how to protect him or herself from STD’s?

Nowadays children are sexually active a lot earlier than in decades past. I use the term children and not teenagers, because quite simply, an 11 or 12 year old having sex of any kind is still very much a child. The scary fact is that many young people are having sex and engaging in sexual acts without a proper education or understanding about STD’s ( Sexually Transmitted Diseases).

Pregnancy is one thing, but what about Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia, HIV, Hepatitis C, Genital Herpes etc? These diseases can cause serious life long health issues, infertility and even death.

Kids and Teens Misinformed About STDs

I think it is fair to state that the majority of young and inexperienced teenagers, or tweens (the 10-12 year old age bracket), would be completely unaware that there are over 20 STD’s that one can actually contract.

This age group also often don’t equate oral sex and other forms of non-penetrative sex as potential ways that they could catch an STD.

There is also a lot of misinformed information spread through this age group about how you can protect yourself against diseases; e.g “you can’t get an STD from having sex only once!” read Teens and STD’s : Common Myths by Web MD

Parents Need To Educate Their Children About STD’s

These days our children are being overexposed to and have free access to so many sexually explicit mediums; e.g TV, the Internet, books & magazines, their own peers, fashion and even inappropriately dressed toys; e.g think Brats Dolls.

Our children are being flooded with overtly sexual messages and images and so we can’t blame them for thinking that having penetrative sex, or engaging in sexual acts is cool and will make them seem more grown-up and therefore more accepted by their peers.

Sadly all this free access to sexual mediums is unlikely to change anytime soon, so we parents must adapt and prepare our children. Teaching your kids openly about Safe Sex and STD’s will hopefully encourage them to want to wait until they’re older and more mature to become sexually active and also when they do engage in sexual activities to be responsible and take care.

Yes we should encourage our children to wait till they are older to have sex, but at the same time and this is just so important, we need to also teach our kids candidly, about the various STD’s and exactly how they are contracted and how they can protect themselves.

Your children should be acutely aware that a condom will only protect them against some sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, but definitely not all.

Talking To Your Children About Sex Is Embarrassing For Both Parties

It can be quite embarrassing to breach the topic of sex with your child, for not just your child, but for you also.

It pays to be sensitive since a young teenager is awash with hormones and is all too aware and often embarrassed about all the changes she/he is undergoing both physically and mentally. More often than not, your child will be anything but comfortable, or willing to talk to you, ‘the parent’, about such topics, but as parents we need to put aside our own discomfort and make our children listen to us. For the sake of our children’s health it is vital that that they do!

Parents must not rely on sex education at school to do the work of educating their children about sex and STDs. Remember children and teenagers are easily distracted and they may also feel quite embarrassed in sex education classes and therefore do not pay proper attention to what is being taught, or they may see the sex ed class as one big joke.

How To Talk To Your Child About Safe Sex.

Sit down with your child, one to one and explain to her/him that this talk is a little bit embarrassing for you also, hopefully this will put them a little more at ease when they realize that they are not alone in feeling uncomfortable.

It is not enough to have “the talk” just once, as it could be in one ear and out the other. We should regularly talk to our kids about safe sex and remind them about the dangers associated with having sexual relations.

You need to make your child feel as comfortable as possible to talk with you about sex and thanks to the Internet there are some really helpful sites offering great advice and tools, that are freely at your disposal and that you can have your children read.

This brilliant site Planned Parenthood Talking to Kids about Sex and Sexuality , has some fantastic advice and tips on how to approach and talk about the subject of sex with your children.

Another good site I found, is aimed at teenagers specifically, called TeenSource.org, that covers Safe Sex and Sexually Transmitted Diseases- . It may be easier to show your children this site and let them browse it freely and in privacy and then later sit and talk to them about it.