Sex is a delicate topic, regardless of who is talking about it. When sex and children are mentioned in the same breath, the subject becomes even more sensitive. From Abstinence Only to Comprehensive Sex Education, the subject matter encompasses various meanings and belief systems attached to the concept, depending on one's community, upbringing, school system, government, and many more variables.
While many towns and cities around the country debate on how and if Sex Education should be handled IN the school, WHO needs it becomes an interesting issue. This past summer, in fact, a college student posed the following idea: PARENTS today need Sex Ed. We've been quite focused on Sex Ed for preteen and teen students, that perhaps, we've forgotten about others who may need Sex Ed too. We have to ask the question: do parents need Sex Education more than teens and preteens do?
I speak with many parents as I travel around the world, and my experiences usually end up supporting the hypothesis above. It seems like many parents today, do indeed need Sex Education. Why do I say this?
1) Many parents are naive when it comes to dating and sexual activity among their pre-teen and teenager sons and daughters. Parents constantly share how everyone wants to believe, "Not my child," and avoid the subject of Sex Ed.
2) For parents who want to discuss Sex Ed at home, the biggest issue is usually how they don't know HOW to talk about the issue - besides trying to "scare" their child away from intimacy. The intentions are there, but many parents simply aren't equipped to tackle Sex Ed on their own.
3) Many parents are also unaware of sexual fads among school age children. Whenever this comes up, many Moms and Dads will give a bewildered look and say "I'm 45 years old and have never tried that, and never would." What they don't know, or perhaps, what they implicitly accept, is that their children may sometimes be thinking and acting beyond what they, as parents, can imagine.
What do you think? Do you think that today's parents need Sex Education? If so, what do you think parents need to learn and/or discover?