How to talk to teenagers about contraception

Your grown-up child writes a hundred TEXT messages a day, stares at himself in the mirror and flatly refuses to say what his name is "extra classes"? Don't grab your heart.

Modern teenagers are well aware of where they came from and how flowers, frogs and kitties reproduce. But it's never too late to talk to them about contraception.

When it comes to such important issues as love, sex, and contraception, parents need to follow several important principles.

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Trusting relationships with parents will help protect a teenager not only from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. With children, you can and should talk about alcohol. Do not wait for the child to grow up and come to his senses. The harm of alcohol for a young body is huge.

1. Be open to communication. A teenager should know that he can talk to his parents on absolutely any topic.

2. Call a spade a spade. There is nothing shameful about talking about gender relations, sex, preventing unwanted pregnancies, and protecting against sexually transmitted infections. Such openness will inspire respect in the teenager and in the future will help him learn how to start a conversation first.

3. Own the information. The student has many sources of information: the Internet, TV, magazines, conversations with peers. But the authority and opinion of his parents is more important to him than anything else, no matter what he says in the bouts of teenage nihilism. So, dad and mom should have all the information about modern contraception.

4. Do not impose your opinion. Psychologists believe that it is best to take on faith and assimilate the information that came to the teenager not in the form of a lecture, but in the course of discussion. Therefore, do not conduct lengthy conversations, but invite your child to talk about contraception. At the same time, listen carefully to his point of view, even if it seems to you fundamentally wrong.

5. Be able to listen. Perhaps, during the conversation, your child will tell you a few common teenage myths about prevention. For example, "no one gets pregnant the first time", or "lemon juice helps with pregnancy". Do not laugh at your child's ignorance and panic. It is necessary to listen to him to the end, so that there is a reason to talk and tell him how everything really happens.

6. Be an example. Contraception – first of all, the responsibility to the partner for his health and fate. It is useless to explain to a teenager how responsible he should be, if the parents themselves treat their health carelessly.

7. Learn to trust your child. The teenager considers himself an adult and wants an appropriate attitude. That is why obsessive control on the part of parents can lead to the loss of trusting relationships in the family. No need to check his pockets, inspect his underwear, or read his phone messages. If you catch him "on the hot" - do not expect trust.

8. Unobtrusively help. Offer your daughter help in choosing a contraceptive: tell us about the possible options and go with her to the gynecologist. Just let it not be a trip to the doctor "by the hand", but a visit for the company: you also need to visit this specialist at least once a year.

9. Take the initiative. Teenage boys, for example, are sometimes desperately shy about buying condoms at the pharmacy. Buy him a package yourself and explain that pharmacists do not care who comes to them for contraceptives.

10. Create a cult of health in the family. Start working in this direction as early as possible. A teenager who has been accustomed since childhood to monitor his health and treat his own body with respect and love, will demand the same attitude from a partner. This means that it will not allow a situation in which accidental sexual contact may occur or contraceptives will not be used.

The most important thing

If a teenager fully trusts his parents, they can talk about any topic, including the topic of protection from pregnancy and sexual infections.

The main thing is that the parents themselves understand this issue. Then buying condoms for a grown-up child or a joint visit to a gynecologist will become completely normal.