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Parents make the best educators for their children. We're here to help.

Parents provide a child with their first exposure to values and attitudes regarding sex and sexuality. Children begin learning about sex from their parents long before the first conversation on the topic ever occurs. They learn from what we do, what we don't do, what we say to each other and what we say to others.

As our children grow older, they hear messages and values about sex from many other sources. In today's society, young people are bombarded with messages about sex from advertising, tv programs, popular music, film and magazines and the internet. New information and messages also come from other adults and other kids. Our children need help to sort through all these messages. They want and need the facts from people they trust.

To be the best sex educators possible, parents need to be informed themselves. We need to become "askable parents" so our children trust us enough to ask questions. We need to teach them to make responsible decisions by providing them with choices and alternatives, whenever possible; by respecting the choices they make; and by helping them learn from the consequences of their decisions.

UHPP Has Resources to Help
For many parents, it is uncomfortable to talk about sex-especially with our children. We may not even know how to begin. Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood can help! The UHPP Education Department has a wide range of resources to help parents talk to their kids about sex and sexuality issues. Below are some of our most popular resources. But always feel free to call our main Education office in Albany at 518.434.5678 x 142 for personal assistance. You can also email us for more information.

Fact sheets
Kids Need-to-Know Series (age three through grade 12); An age-appropriate guide for helping parents talk to their children about the issues of sex and sexuality.
National Family Sexuality Education Month (NFSEM)

Pamphlets
A Parent's Guide to Sexuality Education
Birth Control: Talking with Your Daughter
Birth Control: Talking with Your Son
Encouraging Abstinence: 10 Tips for Parents
How to Talk to Your Child About Sexuality
Our Children's Self-Esteem
Sex: Talking to Your Child
Sexual Responsibility: Talking with Your Teen

Start the conversation. Talk to your kids—or your parents—about sex.

Parents have more influence over their kids' decisions about sex than anyone else in their lives. Teens who say they've had good conversations with their parents about sex are more likely to delay becoming sexually active, and make healthier choices when they start having sex. Click here for tips for parents on how to start the conversation, and how to keep it going—or, if you're trying to figure out how to talk to your parent about sex, click here.

Most families are having these important conversations. But a recent study, conducted by Planned Parenthood in partnership with the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health at NYU (CLAFH) and Family Circle Magazine, found that a lot of times, parents aren't getting across the whole message that they think they are—or they aren't keeping their dialogue with their kids open on an ongoing basis. And while half of parents are comfortable talking to their kids about sex, only 18% of their kids felt comfortable participating in these talks. Click here to read more about the study, and learn ways to make those conversations really count, or here to read side-by-side perspectives from parents and their kids on the conversations they've had. For more general tips, statistics, and news stories on this subject, click here. Get ready to get talking!

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