Your Teen Daughter: What About S-E-X?

Learn what you can say to your daughter to help round out her education on the subject of sex.

Your Teen Daughter: What About S-E-X?

Mom, you cannot afford to ignore your role in educating your daughter about sex. Psychologist and author Dr. Nathalie Bartle (Venus in Blue Jeans: Why Mothers and Daughters Need to Talk About Sex [Dell, 1999]) found in her study that adolescent girls have more questions than they admit about the subject of sex.

Where adolescents are getting most of their ill-informed answers are from the explicit treatment of sex on TV, in movies, records, and advertisements—as well as peers. They are aware of the risk of AIDS but not of other sexually transmitted diseases. Nor are they cognizant that they might incur surprising emotional consequences from becoming sexually active.

Moms must take a proactive stance when it comes to sex. There are ample studies that show honest and early discussion of sex with Mom:

  • Does not encourage daughters to become sexually active.
  • Deters the adolescent girl from early experimentation.
  • Promotes successful use of birth control.
  • Lessens high-risk sexual behaviors.

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