Empowering Parents: The Benefits of Utilizing a Sex Educator to Discuss Sexuality with Kids

Yesterday I met with a friend that made a comment that triggered today's blog post. It is actually not the first time I have heard this belief. A belief that could stop someone from taking a program like "THE Talk" or utilizing an expert to help talk with their child about sex. 

She said something to the effect of, 

"I don't understand why someone would need to hire someone to talk to their kid about sex."

It came across as a sort of judgment of a parent that would "need" to take a course like that. 

Facing Judgment

It's unfortunate that some parents might judge others for seeking the assistance of a sex educator. However, it's essential to remember that every child is unique, and every parent's journey is different. Seeking help from experts is a testament to a parent's dedication to ensuring their children receive the best guidance and information possible....

Sexual extortion or “sextortion” can take many forms. Through various ruses and exploits, victims are lured to share compromising images or engage in compromising conversations. Girls and women are often extorted to produce more sexually explicit pictures, while boys and men are commonly extorted for money.

The rise of technology and the internet has brought about numerous benefits, from easy access to information to the ability to connect with people from all over the world. However, it has also opened up a darker side, with one of the most troubling being around online predators and issues like sextortion.

Sextortion is a cyber crime involving threatening or blackmailing someone into performing sexual acts or sharing explicit material often times for monetary gain.

Watch this video from Amaze.org that explains what extortion is and common tactics.

We are hearing more and more stories in the news like the tragic story of 15-year-old Kaitlyn Yozviak...

A beloved and best-selling classic comes to the big screen with Lionsgate’s adaptation of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Starring Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret, this timeless, coming-of-age story has transcended decades and spoken to generations. The book is considered a classic, yet it has been frequently challenged due to its frank discussion of religious and sexual topics.

It came out in 1970, so some of the situations and references may seem dated to today's tweens who are grappling with social media, cyberbullying, and school shootings. But the underlying issues of peer pressure, social acceptance, and religion are still current struggles for many tweens.

At 11, Margaret is moving to a new town and beginning to contemplate everything about life, friendship, and adolescence. She relies on her mother (McAdams), who offers loving support but is herself finding her own footing in a new place, and...

Social media has become an incredibly important part of our daily lives, particularly among teenagers.

There are numerous social media platforms available for young people to connect and share their thoughts, photos, and videos with the world, ranging from Instagram to TikTok, Snapchat to Twitter.

However, as social media platforms continue to evolve and dominate our digital landscape, teenagers attitudes toward them are changing.

Teenagers are becoming increasingly aware of the negative impact social media can have on their mental health, which is one of the most significant changes in recent years.

For example, Common Sense Media recently published research on teen girls' experiences on TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube highlights how platforms can better protect their mental health.

They found that no single platform stood out as being worse than another when it comes to teen girls' mental health. Instead, specific features stood out in both...

Love...One word for something with many degrees.

Did you know that some of the dialects of Eskimos have 40-50 words for snow?

Central Siberian Yupik has 40 such terms, while the Inuit dialect spoken in Canada’s Nunavik region has at least 53, including “matsaaruti,” for wet snow that can be used to ice a sleigh’s runners, and “pukak,” for the crystalline powder snow that looks like salt.

Yet in the English language we have one word for love.

I don't love pizza the same way I love my son. And I don't love my son the same way I love my spouse. 

Often times the word love is used so often that it's meaning can sometimes get lost. 

This is such an important topic to talk to young people about especially as crushes increase during puberty. 

The desire to be close to someone is essential to our livelihood and as we approach child bearing age that need evolves and romanticizes. 

Nature comes in and creates urges to be close to...

Puberty can be a tough time for all young people but for kids with intellectual disability it can be even harder, for both them and their parents and care givers. Children with differing abilities may develop earlier or later.  Although no two children will develop the same way, they will still progress through the different stages. Each child also has their own learning needs. Learning about the development that happens at different ages will help you to understand where your child is physically in their development.

But while a child’s cognitive understanding of puberty and sexuality may be delayed for his or her age, the process of body maturation, hormonal changes, and sexual feelings usually is not — creating a mismatch that can be dangerous if ignored.

How do you know your teen is ready for certain sexual health topics? 

Here’s the good news – you can’t introduce things too early! Discussing topics earlier than you think is often...

So what's the deal with the egg baby activity? Does it work?

Well that depends what it is being used for.  Is it effective at making young people hold off on sex? That would be tough to prove, but what I do think it is great teachable moment to talk about delaying parenthood. It is a great way to get kids to critically think about and consider how much time it takes to care for something. A pet can do this much better than an egg of course but it proves a point.  There are also some great follow up questions you can ask to get kids thinking. Questions like:

• What sort of things do you think someone might miss out on if they were a parent before they were ready?
• What would you like your life to look like before you become a parent someday (if that is something you'd like to do)? 
• What challenges do you think a new parent feels? 
• What is different about a real baby versus an egg?

How can parents make this activity more effective? 

If you are asked to...

Precocious puberty is when a child's body begins changing into that of an adult too soon. Precocious puberty signs and symptoms include development of the following before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys,

• Pubic or underarm hair
• Rapid growth
• Acne
• Adult body odor
• Breast growth and first period in girls
• Enlarged testicles and penis, facial hair and deepening voice in boys

What causes precocious puberty?

If you suspect your child is going through puberty early talk with your doctor. It may be caused by tumors or growths on the ovaries, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, or brain. Other causes may include central nervous system problems, family history of the disease, or certain rare genetic syndromes. In many cases, no cause can be found for the disorder. There are two types of precocious puberty:

• Gonadotropin-dependent. This is also known as central precocious puberty. This is the most common type of precocious puberty. Most girls and half of boys with...

Starting a conversation with your kids about gender or sexual orientation doesn't have to be one big TALK. In fact, it's better for kids – and parents – to have many brief conversations about gender and orientation throughout childhood, into adolescence and early adulthood.

These conversations will change over time, which is why this talk cannot be done only once. A conversation with a 5-year-old will be very different than that with a 15-year-old. Luckily, there are helpful resources (some listed below) to assist parents in how to navigate developmentally appropriate conversations with your children.

Start by thinking about the tone you want to set 

You can begin by talking positively about all the diversity that exists in our world – race, ethnicity, gender expression, sexual orientation – and that all these identities make us unique and wonderful people. Look for and point out diversity in nature....

In the beginning of February 2021 one of my mentors Dr. Laura Berman, a renowned television host and relationship expert experienced the unthinkable. She lost her 16 year old son Sammy to an accidental drug overdose and is speaking out in hopes of preventing a similar tragedy from happening to anyone else. 

I can't imagine losing a child. This story particularly hit home and put interest in me because of how he acquired the drug - via social media (Snapchat). Anyone can direct message someone on social media and many individuals solicit for drugs, sex, and other illegal activities using these platforms. He was not an addict. Bored from the shut downs from COVID and wanting to experiment and try something mind altering, he had a prescription drug delivered to his home. The drug was laced with fentanyl and his system had a reaction. In his bedroom, with his family in the other room, he died alone.  

Dr. Laura's husband Samuel Chapman recalled finding Sammy "on...