Teach Your Children—Part III
“Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”
Malcolm Forbes
Love
In the past two weeks, we’ve discussed our own country’s utter lack of effective sex education and the fact that many parents seem to dread taking responsibility when it comes to answering their own kids’ questions about sex. And how do we know that parents feel this way about sex? Maybe it’s because most get awkward and tongue-tied whenever it comes to anything having to do with even the possibility of discussing sex—I’d say that’s the smoking gun that shows us all just how ill-prepared most parents are. Let’s agree that today’s parents weren’t educated by their OWN parents either, and then we can begin to understand that this cycle of poor communication skills has been repeated ad nauseum from generation to generation. For this very reason we need to remind ourselves that when parents establish a healthy level of communication with their children, they also help their children foster healthy feelings about sex.
Exciting and New
So where do we start? It may come as a surprise that we’re not alone and completely without resources. Here are just a few of the many excellent books available to parents who are truly serious about opening the lines of communication with their children—not surprisingly, most of these books were written by noted sexologists. Some of these books are particularly helpful for parents, some particularly for kids, and some for both.
Joani Blank, “A Kid's First Book about Sex.” For all children ages five to nine years.
Boston Women’s Health Collective, “Our Bodies Ourselves.” For teen women and adults.
Mary Calderone, M.D. “The Family Book about Sexuality” and “Talking with Your Child About Sex.” For young children and their parents/guardians.
Marty Klein, “Ask Me Anything.” For teens and adults.
Mark Schoen, “Bellybuttons Are Navels.” For young children and their parents/guardians.
And for those of you who’d like to read a superior and thought-provoking book about the insidious behind-the-scenes battle intended to keep sex information from children, I wholeheartedly recommend “Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex” by Judith Levine.
Come Aboard
Next week: who knows? It’s the mandate of everybody’s very own Good Ship Dr. J to sail into uncharted waters. Did I mention we’re expecting you?
With Pleasure,
Dr. J
Malcolm Forbes
Love
In the past two weeks, we’ve discussed our own country’s utter lack of effective sex education and the fact that many parents seem to dread taking responsibility when it comes to answering their own kids’ questions about sex. And how do we know that parents feel this way about sex? Maybe it’s because most get awkward and tongue-tied whenever it comes to anything having to do with even the possibility of discussing sex—I’d say that’s the smoking gun that shows us all just how ill-prepared most parents are. Let’s agree that today’s parents weren’t educated by their OWN parents either, and then we can begin to understand that this cycle of poor communication skills has been repeated ad nauseum from generation to generation. For this very reason we need to remind ourselves that when parents establish a healthy level of communication with their children, they also help their children foster healthy feelings about sex.
Exciting and New
So where do we start? It may come as a surprise that we’re not alone and completely without resources. Here are just a few of the many excellent books available to parents who are truly serious about opening the lines of communication with their children—not surprisingly, most of these books were written by noted sexologists. Some of these books are particularly helpful for parents, some particularly for kids, and some for both.
Joani Blank, “A Kid's First Book about Sex.” For all children ages five to nine years.
Boston Women’s Health Collective, “Our Bodies Ourselves.” For teen women and adults.
Mary Calderone, M.D. “The Family Book about Sexuality” and “Talking with Your Child About Sex.” For young children and their parents/guardians.
Marty Klein, “Ask Me Anything.” For teens and adults.
Mark Schoen, “Bellybuttons Are Navels.” For young children and their parents/guardians.
And for those of you who’d like to read a superior and thought-provoking book about the insidious behind-the-scenes battle intended to keep sex information from children, I wholeheartedly recommend “Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex” by Judith Levine.
Come Aboard
Next week: who knows? It’s the mandate of everybody’s very own Good Ship Dr. J to sail into uncharted waters. Did I mention we’re expecting you?
With Pleasure,
Dr. J
posted by Dr J @ 2:52 PM
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