Tips for Communicating with Parents

1. Tell your parents about your day-to-day experiences. Keeping the lines of communication open with daily conversation will make it easier to discuss more personal topics later.
2. Initiate conversations by telling your parents about a book you are reading, a movie you've seen, something you heard on TV or read in the news. This can be an excellent way to bring up difficult topics.
3. Bringing up personal issues may be easier when the situation is discussed as a concern or experience of "a friend".
4. Whenever you can, share your feelings, ideas, goals, aspirations and concerns with your parents. Let them get to know you and to feel a part of your life.
5. Ask your parents about their feelings, ideas, goals and concerns. A sincere effort to learn about them as people, not just as parents, will probably be welcomed. However, if they choose not to share, respect their privacy.
6. Listen as well as talk. When discussing something important to us, it is easy to get caught up in our own thoughts and forget to listen to the other person.

Once you have begun a positive pattern of communication, it will be easier to talk to your parents about sexuality. You may want to ask them some of the questions listed below as a way to start the discussion.

1. How did you learn about sex and sexuality? Did your parents talk to you? If so, how old were you? Could you ask them questions?
2. Did you have sexuality education in school or church?
3. What misinformation did you get from friends or the media?
4. Were you told any scary stories about sex?