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by Martha Kempner
In June, as teens across the country were trading in their backpacks and books for bathing suits and beach towels, two different divisions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released surveys on teens’ sexual behavior. These surveys, which are conducted at regular intervals, provide a snapshot of what today’s teens are doing and a way of tracking trends over time.
The first of the studies, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Summaries (YRBS) conducted by the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), surveys high school students every two years. The results released last month were from the 2009 survey; it found that 46% of all high school students report ever having had sexual intercourse.
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by Martha Kempner
A few weeks ago a friend posted an update on Facebook about how horrified she was to find that Forever 21, a chain of stores that carries inexpensive, trendy clothing aimed at teens and tweens was now carrying maternity clothes. I laughed. I have never actually shopped at Forever 21, I don’t think I’m young or trendy enough to wear their clothes and in all honesty, I don’t think I’m thin enough to look good in them. So it struck me as funny that right now—in my third trimester of pregnancy, at my very largest—might be the best time for me start dressing like those half my age. On a very practical level, it’s hard to find maternity clothes that look halfway decent and don’t cost a fortune and I’ve already tapped out Target and Old Navy, so one more shopping option sounded good to me.
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by Emily Bridges, Director of Public Information Services
In the August edition of Cosmopolitan, Britney Spears filled out a Cosmo Quiz designed just for her, and here's what she said:
"I’m dreading the moment when my sons ask me: how babies are made"
Many parents share Britney's fear of The Talk (or actually, series of age-appropriate conversations throughout the child's life). That's why Advocates created the Parents Sex Education Center (PSEC) and our parenting blog The Birds and The Bees. Check out the PSEC for step by step guidance on how to start talking to your child about development, sex, and sexuality, and then visit the blog for commentary and advice from parents around current events and culture that impact children's health and how they think about themselves and others.
Britney might want to start with the Growth and Development section so she can read about the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of her sons as they grow up. From there she could go to the "Getting Started" section, and maybe read "Talking with Boys About Sex", where writer Tom Klaus describes his own experience with his son's questions and shares advice on how to navigate the topic.
Britney already has one important part of The Talk(s) nailed down, anyway:
"The best advice I ever got was: be yourself!"
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by Martha Kempner
In the last blog, I talked about naked kids and questions that start coming up as kids enter pre-school about whether it’s okay for them to be naked around each other and around adults. The other question that starts to come up around this age is similar but maybe even more complicated: when does it stop being okay for us as parents to be naked in front of our children?
As parents we often worry about this one more. It is trickier because it involves adults’ own perceptions of modesty and comfort with their own bodies as well societal perceptions and fears about sexuality and incest. I think a lot of discomfort stems from parents’ fears of doing something that other people might find inappropriate. While we can laugh off inappropriate behavior exhibited by our four year olds, we’re held to slightly higher standards. Again, I say go with your gut.
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by Martha Kempner
The count-down to my daughter’s fourth birthday has definitely begun (if you ask, she will say she’s three-and-three-quarters) and with it, as with any new milestone, comes some new questions about appropriate behavior. Last week the questions were all about nudity.
Up until the age of two, no one seems at all concerned about kids being naked in front of other people or parents being naked in front of kids; after all two-year olds are still really babies and naked babies are cute. And, on the flip side, how aware are they, really, that their parents are naked? But the lines start to blur around three and get even more questionable as the toddler turns into a preschooler and the preschooler starts looking and acting much more like a miniature adult.
Last week, two independent events brought up separate but related questions: When does it stop being okay for her to run around naked in front other people and when does it stop being okay for her to see us naked?
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