scarleteen confidential

Scarleteen Confidential: Ten Questions with Scott Todnem about Puberty, Masculinity, and Raising Boys

We encourage parents and guardians to have honest, supportive conversations with young people about sex and relationships. Because we know that can sometimes be intimidating, we're always on the lookout for resources to help with the trickier parts of those interactions, which is why we were excited to read the recently released Sex Education for Boys: A Parent's Guide: Practical Advice on Puberty, Sex, and Relationships by Scott Todnem. Scott chatted with us about how the book came to be, how to model positive masculinity, and the different challenges that come with raising boys.

Scarleteen Confidential: Beyond Birds & Bees 

Bonnie Rough echoes many comprehensive sex educators in her assertion that it is often adult discomfort with the idea of children being sexual beings, or an inability to see things like nudity in a non-sexual light, that drives the way they interact with children’s sexuality. She’s honest about the ways in which she, and many other well-meaning parents, can be so focused on how they can prevent negative outcomes of sex that they inadvertently reinforce harmful, sex-negative messages. She poses an alternate question for parents to ponder in place of merely thinking about how to prevent negative outcomes: what are my hopes and dreams for my children in their sexual lives?

Scarleteen Confidential: Helping Youth Handle Rejection

Young people don’t arrive at their conclusions about appropriate romantic behavior in a vacuum; they’re influenced by a myriad of messages, including input from the adults in their lives. Sometimes that input includes ideas that end up exacerbating issues around rejection and dating. One of the ways we can work towards a world in which acts like this no longer happen, a world in which people, and women in particular, aren’t afraid their “no” will make them a target of violence, is to make a concerted effort to help the young people in our lives learn to deal with rejection in healthy ways. With that in mind, we’ve put together recommendations to assist adults in doing exactly that.

Scarleteen Confidential: In the Wake of a Tragedy

SCsquare We remain deeply saddened, angry, scared and horrified about the horrible events that unfolded last Saturday night on Latin night at Pulse, an LGBTQ club in Orlando which took 49 lives, injured over 50 others and have left millions of us hurting. So do many young people.

Here are some ways you can support the LGBTQ young people in your family who are or may be struggling right now.

Scarleteen Confidential: Teens and Decision Making

Unless you live under a very large rock, odds are good you've heard some statistics and research about adolescent minds and neurochemistry and how they are still doing a lot of developing through the early to mid-twenties.

Yes, the adolescent brain makes impulsive behavior more likely. But that doesn't mean that teens and emerging adults don't know what they want, who they are now, or what they're talking about.

Scarleteen Confidential: "The Talk"

SCsquareIf 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.

Scarleteen Confidential: Quick Hits

SCsquareWays to connect with the teens in your life
What can you do to stay connected without becoming the main component of their social lives?

Helping a teen through a break-up
If the teen in your life is dating, odds are there's a break-up in their future and yours. Break-ups suck, and they suck the most for the person experiencing them. But that doesn't mean it's pleasant to watch someone you love go through one, and you may feel at a loss as to how to handle it. Here are some tips to help you go about it.

Scarleteen Confidential: The Safer Sex Drawer

An easy way to both normalize safer sex, and make sure that the young person or people in your home have access to basic safer sex and contraception they may need is to have some of those basics in your home, somewhere where everyone can easily find and see them.