Campaign urges parents to talk to kids about sex
Group encourages adults to share marriage values with their children
BY JENNIFER GRISWOLD
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Published: April 12, 2009
NORMAN — Marcus Guinn’s mother was only 14 years old when he was born. He was raised by his grandmother, who’d also had her children as a teen.
More Info
IF YOU GO
Training
for "the talk”
Leadership
workshop
There will be a two-day training workshop for community leaders to learn about the Parents Speak Up program. The workshop is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at Embassy Suites Conference Center, 2501 Conference Drive in Norman.
The workshop will train people in how to conduct parent workshops on talking to children about sex. Materials will be provided, and presentation tips will be discussed during the sessions. The training is designed for teachers, counselors, coaches, health care personnel and other people who work with American Indian children and their families. To register, go to www.kauff maninc.com/share yourvision.
Parent workshop
There will be a workshop for parents from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Embassy Suites Conference Center. The workshop will offer parents tips and conversation starters on talking to their children about sex. For more information, call (509) 789-2672.
Both workshops are free. The events are open to anyone, and people who work with American Indian youths and parents of American Indian youths are particularly encouraged to attend.
ONLINE
For more information about the campaign, go to www.4parents.gov.
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Teen pregnancy was a cycle in Guinn’s family and a culture that he decided would end with him. As a young man, he vowed to stay abstinent until marriage. He and his wife kissed for the first time on their wedding day.
Guinn said it was important for him to wait.
"I’m not saying everyone should wait to kiss until they’re married,” but it’s a real-life example that waiting is possible, he said.
An
Oklahoma City native, Guinn now travels across the country with Parents Speak Up, a national campaign that teaches parents to talk to their children about sex and encourages them to share their values.
Jason spokesman for Parents Speak Up, said the goal of the campaign is to reduce pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted disease among America’s youths.
"Parents have this perception that kids don’t listen to them,” Flynn said, "but parents are the biggest influences in their children’s lives.”
The program isn’t an abstinence campaign, said Flynn. It’s a parental involvement campaign.
"Parents need to talk to their kids early and often about sex,” Guinn said. "This campaign encourages, empowers and motivates parents to get involved in their children’s lives at an early age.”
Guinn will join fellow Oklahoman Chance Rush, another Parents Speak Up presenter, for a conference Wednesday and Thursday in Norman. The event will include training for community leaders and parents.
The men work through the campaign’s
Native American Outreach Center, which focuses on reaching American Indians and
Alaska natives. Guinn is an Osage, Pottawatomie and
Delaware Indian; Rush is a member of the Hidatsa and Arapaho tribes.
The campaign also has outreach centers that focus on black and Hispanic populations.
Although the conference is open to anyone, it will focus on ways American Indians can use their traditions to reach their children, organizers said.
Rush, of
El Reno, said parents are afraid to talk to their children about sex.
"It’s the elephant in the room,” he said.
The time to talk to children differs depending on their maturity, he said.
The conversations are more than an anatomy lesson. They are an opportunity to talk to children about your personal values and to strengthen your relationship, he said.
Parenting is a wonderful gift, and parents should want to discuss these issues for the benefit of their children, Rush said.
"I’m a parent, and if I have the opportunity to share anything that will help them in their future, I want to be a part of it,” Rush said.
Parents Speak Up is a program of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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These issues continue to impact US society due to politics trumping science, and our culture of selling sex, but avoiding talking about sex.
I used a great resouce to overcome some of my own inhibitions about talking and educating my own kids about sex called, The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality. I think it's available in Spanish also. But my teens and I now have a very open relationship to talk about these issues, and I sleep much better at night.