HELP FOR THE FAMILY/PARENTING -Conclusion of Teaching Your Child About Sex

Impart values.  Start teaching your child-at an early age-about honesty, integrity, and respect.  Then, when sex is discussed, you have foundation to build on. Also, state your values clearly.  For example, if you view sex before marriage as improper, say so.  And explain why it is wrong and harmful.  'Teens who say they know that their parents disapprove of teens having intercourse are less likely to actually have sex," says Beyond the Big Talk. 

Set the example.  Live by the values you teach.  For instance, do you laugh at obscene jokes?   dress provocatively? flirt? Such actions may undermine the moral values you are trying to teach your children. - Bible principle: ROMANS 2:21.

Keep it positive.  Sex is a gift from God, and in the right circumstances-in marriage-it can be a source of great pleasure.  (Proverbs 5:18, 19) Let your child know that in time he or she may be able to enjoy the gift, without the heartache and worries that come from premarital sex. - 1 TIMOTHY  1:18, 19. 

KEY SCRIPTURES

* "Train a boy [or, "youth,"] in the way he should go even when he grows old he will not depart from it." - PROVERBS 22:6.  

* "You must impress {God's commandment] upon your sons." -DEUTERONOMY 6:6, 7.

* Do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself?" - ROMANS 2:21.

A PARENT'S ROLE

Despite common perceptions, children-including teenagers-are more influenced by their parents than by peers.  "Children always look first to the immediate adults in their lives for guidance and for framing the world in a way they can relate to and understand.  They go elsewhere only when they know or sense that we are not willing to be present or available . . .What decades of research demonstrate should be no great surprise:  families who sustain this kind of connectedness around issues such as sexuality raise healthier children who make better decision, take greater responsibility for their actions, and perhaps most important, postpone risky behaviors." - Talk to Me First.

Next time: THE BIBLE'S VIEWPOINT/Gratitude 

From the jw.org publications