"Tough Issues for Parents and Teens," emphasizes the need to talk to young people about making responsible choices about their sexual activity.

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Tough Issues for Parents and Teens

Valentine's Day signifies the celebration of love and romance. This season may also signal the time for parents to emphasize family boundaries around sexual activity.

Research confirms that teens want to use their parents as their first resource for the information they need to make responsible choices regarding their sexual activity. Many parents, however, shy away from the subject-either because they're uncomfortable or they don't feel they have enough information.

According to Planned Parenthood, teens in the United States do not have as much access to comprehensive sex education and open, honest discussion as teens in the rest of the developed world. Teen pregnancy rates are much higher in the U.S. than in many other developed countries.

Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY), an organization promoting healthy youth development, maintains that parents and other caring adults are invaluable in shaping young people's perspectives on the importance of being well informed and using restraint. According to María Guajardo Lucero, Ph.D., executive director of ACY, "Parents and care givers play a vital role in making sure young people are well informed about healthy sexual development and the need to not engage in risk-taking behaviors."

ACY offers the following suggestions to help in strengthening communication:

• Be clear about your values, your boundaries and your reasons.
  
• Be open to a young person's questions about sex, alcohol and drugs.
  
• Look for opportunities in the news or other media to discuss how these difficult issues impact and effect young people.
  
• Point young people to other sources of information or people they can talk to about the issues they may face, such as drinking and driving, pressures to have sex or drug use.

Open and honest communication requires courage, creativity and support. By modeling positive behavior ourselves, we are demonstrating to young people how they may also make wise decisions and choose positive paths.

To learn more about the developmental assets and what you can do to help young people succeed, contact ACY.

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