Teen Sexuality
When your child starts dating, your head starts spinning! As a parent you have mixed emotions: You feel happy for her, scared that she might do something inappropriate, and concerned that her feelings might get hurt if the relationship fails. These are common across the board for many parents.
But, what happens when you know that the person your child is dating is wrong for your child? You can see signs in your daughter's boyfriend that he loses his temper easily, he seems a little too strong with his attachment to your daughter, or you know that he is involved with drinking and drugs. You can try to persuade your daughter not to date this boy, and you can even demand that she not see him anymore - but, unfortunately, that does not necessarily mean she is going to listen to you. There are ways to protect your daughter.
Sexually transmitted diseases (also known as STDs) are potentially serious infections, which can be caught by having sexual contact with someone who is infected. It is estimated that approximatley 10 million new cases of STDs are reported in teens each year. This is the approximate reported number - many STDs in teens are unrecognized and untreated.
Becoming pregnant is often a scary time for a teenage girl. In most cases, teens do not plan to become pregnant. It just "happens." Unfortunately, it happens every day and has become a worldwide epidemic.
The important thing is that once you discover that your teen is pregnant, you have to work together to make some really tough decisions, such as:- Whether or not to keep the baby or give it up for adoption
- Knowing where you stand on the topic of abortion
- Who will be responsible for the child both physically and financially
- Will the father be involved in the child's care
Discovering that your son or daughter is attracted to members of the same sex, can be distressing to you as a parent. It may also be hard on other family members as well. Feelings that you may display are anger, guilt and resentment toward your teen. These are all normal emotions when dealing with this sensitive subject, but where do you channel these emotions and who can help you work through them?
- Moodiness
- Irritability
- Anxiety
As an adult, you may find it perfectly comfortable to talk about it with a person you meet in the grocery store - but yet, the very idea of sitting down one on one with your own child to have "the talk" can be extremely uncomfortable, or even absolutely mortifying. The reality is, it's not even a talk - it's an ongoing conversation that will need to happen more than once!
