Search Results for: blog talking with children about sexuality

Ask a Baby Blogger: Breastfeeding In Front of Older Children

Question: I have a question. I have a newborn baby whom I am breastfeeding and two older sons ages 6 and 8. It makes me uncomfortable for them to see me breastfeeding the baby. I’m afraid them seeing me breastfeed will damage them psychologically. Are my fears unfounded? Your View of Breastfeeding I think you’ve really already answered your own question but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with some basics. Breastfeeding is natural, and dare I say at the risk of offending someone, the way babies are supposed to be fed. Women have breasts for the purpose of … Continue reading →

Book Review: From Diapers To Dating: A Parent’s Guide To Raising Sexually Healthy Children

Book Review: From Diapers To Dating: A Parent’s Guide To Raising Sexually Healthy Children, by Debra W. Haffner If you’re having problems talking to your kids about sex, I recommend this book. I admit, I checked it out of the library by mistake. I didn’t notice that it was about sex until I got home (the second part of the title is written in smaller letters under the main title). I thought it was a general parenting advice book. Since I had it anyway, I decided to read it. After all, at some point I will have to talk to … Continue reading →

Talking with Children About Sexuality.

The best protection from sexual assault that we can offer our children is to combine clear protective behavior skills with sexuality education. Previous blogs on the BITSS model of protective play covered different games to play for aiding skill development. However, sexuality? Isn’t that the same thing as protective behaviors? No. Many people simplify sexuality by assuming that it is about partner choice: heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or transsexual. This is only a small part of sexuality. Anna Freud (daughter of Sigmund Freud) beautifully quoted the difference by stating, “Sex is what we do, sexuality is who we are.” Who we … Continue reading →

Puberty Can Be Emotionally Overwhelming to Adolescents

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Parents may have forgotten what it was like to go through puberty. According to Psychology Today writer David Schwartz LMFT, puberty can be emotionally overwhelming to adolescents. Your tween or teen may be experiencing emotional difficulty as their body changes. According to David Schwarts LMFT, adolescents start to experience a whole new world of feelings when they reach puberty. They start to have emotions, recognizing their own sexuality and longing for closeness with others of their own age. This can create an overwhelming sense of change and uncertainty. Many adolescents aren’t sure what is happening to them. Parents can help … Continue reading →

It’s Up to You

Last week a bill was passed in Utah mandating that schools teach abstinence-only programs and even gives them the option to drop sex education all together; leaving an incredible responsibility on us as parents to educate our children about sex. While this is something we should all be doing already, there are many parents who are so uncomfortable talking to their kids about the subject, that it gets left out all together. They had previously relied on the schools to give their children the education they need on the subject, but they no longer have that luxury. My son is … Continue reading →

Controversial Sex Ed Curriculum in New York

There is a controversy in New York schools concerning a sex education curriculum that students will be introduced to. One of the resources that students in school will be directed to is a website called “Go Ask Alice.” Of course, I invite you to check it out for yourself but I can tell you that it’s certainly not something I would provide my children with. If you click on the tab “Sexuality,” you get this red box that provides a snapshot of what you are about to link to. It reads: “Learn the A-B-Cs of S-E-X: abstinence, boners & clitorises.” … Continue reading →

Bullying may be a good reason to homeschool

If you have been following the news, you are aware that two 12 year old boys killed themselves in the past two weeks in separate incidents of bullying. According to an Oprah Winfrey show on the subject, the boys were hit, pushed, and called names, most specifically, they were called gay slurs. According to experts, harassment based on sexuality is the worst kind of torment for middle school students. I have my own personal history with bullying. It started in the third grade with girls who had previously been friendly becoming distant and cold. In the fourth grade it escalated … Continue reading →

Single Parenting and Your Growing Child: It is Time for the Talk

Single parenting, oh the joys! Another job that we cannot pawn off on anyone else and that is “The Talk”. It helps if you are divorced in this case and the other parent is involved, but what if there is no other parent? Yes, I am afraid to tell you, you are it, again. Talking to your kids about growing up is probably one of the least favorite things that you will do as a parent. It is not too uncomfortable for the parent, but it is usually uncomfortable for the child. Because it is uncomfortable for them, we are … Continue reading →

New Report Shows Fewer Teens Having Sex

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There’s good news for parents of teens. According to a recently released study, fewer teens are having sex, the number of teens ages 15 to 17 giving birth has decreased and for those teens who are engaging in sexual activity, the use of condoms is up. America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, is an annual report released by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics and details information on the health and well-being of children in the United States. Many of the findings were positive. In addition to the issues of teen sexuality, the study found that: … Continue reading →

When Your Son Views Porn

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In Pornography and Teenagers, we looked at the mixed emotions that parents feel when they discover that their adolescent son is looking at pornography on the web. In this blog, we will look at some of the ways to best deal with this common situation. As previously mentioned, it is not useful to react in horror and indulge in a frenzy of name-calling when first we discover that porn in on the menu of your offspring’s computer. One of the most beneficial activities that you can do is to anticipate the event happening and think about what you would do … Continue reading →