communication

If you're caring for a young person, then the question of when and how to have "the talk" with them has likely crossed your mind. It's generally understood to be one of the more dreaded moments of raising a young person, because it's awkward for everyone involved and seems like an awful lot to have to do all at once. But it doesn't have to be an awkward, embarrassing, weird metaphors about birds and bees filled discussion. And it not only doesn't have to be all at once, it shouldn't be.

There are so many things that make me glad in your question. Glad that L has at least one person that he feels safe sharing that part of himself with. Glad you reacted positively and confirmed his trust in you. But oh how I am not glad that he's still in a situation where he doesn't feel comfortable...

Identity can be such an obnoxious creature sometimes. Just when you think you've got it all sorted out, some new evidence pops up and you have to rethink things. And I don't need to tell you how frustrating that shift can be, because you're in the middle of it. It can be doubly trying if you've...

You've probably seen all kinds of adults writing about teens and sex. Some of that writing is well-researched and thoughtful. Some -- most, sadly -- is hysterical and full of fearmongering and shoddy (or no) research. I was lucky enough to interview an author who belongs solidly in the first category.

If by sex, you mean intercourse, you probably can't. Even if you could, you or your partner probably wouldn't enjoy it: the idea intercourse is something people do -- or even can do, or would enjoy if they could -- for an hour or two just doesn't square with reality. A lot of people have unrealistic...

First off, I want to say that it takes an incredible amount of strength to have gone through (and continue to go through) what you have and survive. You've managed to grown and thrive in spite of other people doing awful things to you. That's not nothing. And that strength is going to come in handy...

For two years, I worked in a bookstore that was aimed primarily at children and teenagers. It was a job I quite enjoyed, but I quickly discovered that when you work near books, people always want to tell you their opinions on said books. That's fine most of the time. But I noticed a pattern when parents or adults would refer to The Hunger Games series. They would express dismay over a child wanting to read the book, wondering what they saw in it, and either implicitly or explicitly stating that they thought the book was not good for youth to be reading. What struck me about these conversations was that ninety-nine percent of the time, the adult in question had not even read the book they were criticizing. They dismissed it, either as inappropriate trash or as mindless fiction without ever actually seeing what it had to say.

If you take nothing else away from Scarleteen Confidential, we feel these five things are the real guiding principles when it comes to parenting well with sex and sexuality.

Quite a few young people have come to us with this scenario: a parent has told their child that they are open to talking about contraception. But when the young people bring this up with us, they sometimes say that even though that invitation was extended, they don't feel comfortable picking it up and asking for that help, or can't figure out how. I absolutely see what I am sure are usually the best of intentions with this invitation. But I'd like to suggest an alternative that will probably work better.

Hi Freckle Face, There are a couple of things in your question that I want to address. The first is that you are, correctly, noticing that your friends are applying a double standard when it comes to talking about sex with you. Now, to be clear, people have different levels of comfort around...