Sex education is still taboo for society; It is a challenging topic to explain to students. It is important to destigmatize this and make people understand that it is normal to educate young adults about the same. Since teenage is a critical age, educating them about sex is really important. It takes a lot more than just speaking to make students listen to the lesson.
We need to provide them a platform with the help they can express their point of view clearly. It is also essential to keep an eye on information they are getting, whether they are from an authentic source or not. You will find many sources having content that mislead their tender minds. However, the topic is vast for discussion, and here we are discussing the tips that will be helpful for you while discussing sex education with teenagers.
Aim of Sex Education for Teenagers
You must be aware of the end motive or goal while sharing knowledge of sex education with children. It helps the teenager to grow up as a responsible adult. Kids need to have proper knowledge of sexuality irrespective of their gender.
It comprises different knowledge, though process and development to take a fruitful decision in future. Another goal of sex education is to minimize the risk of adverse outcomes that leads to wrong action or intimacy without protection.
How to Initiate the Conversation
Parents find it a little absurd and challenging to start the discussion in one go with their children. You can break the ice with the help of media channels, newspapers, OTT platforms, or more for sharing information about sex education. You can even use recorded lectures in online teaching apps to make the process easier.
An evening hangout or coffee day out can also be helpful. Don’t hesitate while sharing the information about sex education with your kids. Make discussion more friendly and add them too in between. It helps to create clear impacts in their mind. Use the appropriate and correct name body parts to make learning easy.
Give Proper Response to Students / Kids
You must need to take care that you respond sensibly to children since teenage is a tender phase. We can’t consider them as kids, but they are not yet responsible adults. They might get trapped in a complex situation by making decisions on their own.
Parents need to be extra careful while responding to them. If you find the kids actively involved in sexual activities, scolding them will worsen the situation, and you will regret it afterward.
You can take them for routine medical checkups and provide a supportive environment that makes them fit, overall, mainly at an emotional level.
Invite Kids in Ongoing Conversation
There is nothing like a perfect moment; you can talk about it to bring awareness to kids. It is part of life, and you must not make the situation awkward while discussing it with your kids. Make the topic normal, just like any other friendly discussion.
Even you find the sexual behavior of your wards a little absurd; you can ask them directly about it. No need to gather the proof/evidence and ask afterward. Build a strong & friendly relationship with your kids so that you ask their doubts directly with you.
Make them Learn about Healthy & Unhealthy Relationships
Ensure that your kids must be aware of the violence which is ongoing in the name of relationships. Let them learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Ensure that they are not the victim of toxic or harmful relationships.
Violence is disturbing, whether it is physically or mentally. It would be best if you took proper care about the signs indicating the same. Such as loss of interest in family & friends, consumption of alcohol, and smoking in excess. As in the long term, the result may be worse, like falling grades & suicidal attempts.
Conclusion
When it comes to sex education, it is not only the responsibility of educators; parents must understand students to reinforce the learning of the school. Parents might find the situation a little awkward initially, but parents can trick this topic into an ongoing conversation. It is the responsibility of online teachers & students to bringing up the adults who are sexually responsible.
I started my journey as a teacher in 2017. Being a teacher is not a trivial task. You have the responsibility of guiding the students on the right track.
Generally, people with no prior experience in teaching, are expected to practice the art of teaching with a focus on a 360° view of understanding the given topic, so that you can help students with creative ways to develop thinking & tackle a certain problem.
I started this exercise and did it for 15 days or so & felt confident. However, during my trial I realized, I ignored the most important thing and that was utilizing the experience of my seniors. During my practice sessions, I was busy with my new circle of friends who were mainly freshers from other domains & this was giving me a fake sense of improvement.
As soon as I understood this & started utilizing my time in understanding the aura of my subject from the subject seniors & the team, I got a whole new vision of problem-solving ability, it made me wonder how a simple activity of understanding my team & spending time with them is helping me to grasp years of experience in just days.
Cutting short to the present day, When I am managing a team of amazingly smart people at Teachmint, I make sure that I can help people understand the importance & benefits of spending dedicated time within their team. There is something that you can take home from every team member, it might be a skill, a quality, their zeal, there are gazillion things that you can learn every day and that can only be called amazing!
Are you also helping your team improve by sharing your experience and knowledge?