Mother-Daughter Chit Chat

Time Needed: 30 minutes for interview; 10 minutes to process

Materials: Chit Chat interview sheets and pencils; newsprint and markers; selected pamphlets and/or bibliographies dealing with parent/child communication, puberty, etc.

Session Objectives:

To develop open lines of communication between parents and their children about sexuality and growing up.

Activity Description:

Through the use of a series of prepared questions, mothers and daughters will have an opportunity to discuss/share/compare their experiences and feelings about growing up.

The facilitator will:

1.   Begin by explaining to the group that they will be participating in an exercise that will help parents and their children learn how to initiate meaningful discussions about sexuality and growing up.

2.   Instruct the group that they will have 30 minutes to complete the activity.

3.   Break the group into parent-child pairs and distribute interview sheets and pencils. In the event that a parent may have more than one child attending the program, include all of the children in the "pair."

4.   Explain that the child will interview the parent first. Remind them to write their responses on their interview sheet.

5.   Next have the parent interview the child. Remind them to write their responses on the interview sheet.

6.   Return participants to the large group to process responses. List some responses on newsprint. Identify the similarities and differences and discuss.

Exercise: "Mother/Daughter Chit Chat"

Part I: "When you were my age..." — Girls will ask their mothers the following questions:

1.   What was your favorite TV show?

2.   What kind of music did you listen to?

3.   Did your parents like "your kind" of music?

4.   Did you have a best friend?

5.   What did you like doing?

6.   What did you want to become when you grew up?

7.   Did you have a curfew?

8.   Were you allowed to date?

9.   Did you have your own telephone?

10.   Did you have a good relationship with your parents?

11.   Could you talk to your parents about anything?

12.   Did you have sex education or family life education in school?

13.   Did you learn about puberty from your parents?

14.   Did you wish that they'd talk to you more?

15.   What was the greatest pressure you experienced?

Part II: "Now that you're going through puberty..." — Mothers will ask their daughters these questions:

1.   Are you developing earlier, later, or about the same time as your friends?

2.   Do you like the way you look?

3.   How do you feel about the physical changes you're experiencing now?

4.   Do you feel that you can talk to me about anything?

5.   Do you feel we've discussed the kinds of things that concern you about going through puberty and growing-up?

6.   What kinds of things do you think parents and their children need to talk about?

7.   What do you think is the greatest pressure facing young people your age today?

Mother/Daughter Chit Chat Response Form

Facilitator should draw this chart on newsprint and list any similarities or differences that mothers and daughters identified during the interview.

Similarities                                       Differences 
                                    
Example: my mother wasn't
allowed to have a boyfriend
until she was 16