The United States is just a tiny slice of the global menace of teenage pregnancies. Do you know that an estimated 12 million girls within the same age cluster of 15-19 (and at least 777,000 girls below 15 years) give birth every year in the developing world?
And to think that Black American teens are at an increased risk of teenage motherhood (compared to Whites) is even more disheartening. Statistics from the CDC reveal that birth rates in non-Hispanic black teens were almost twice the rate for non-Hispanic white teens.
But pregnancy is only one-half of this bitter pie. There is an enormous risk of your child contracting STDs upon having unprotected sex.
An estimated 20 million new sexually transmitted infections are reported in the U.S. each year. But here is what will blow your mind. Teens – typically between 15-24 years– account for 50% of these new STDs littering American communities. For perspective, one in every 4 American teens contracts an STD each year!
Alarming, isn’t it?
Where do we go from here
Given this disheartening reality, you don’t need an MIT degree to know your kid would be exposed to situations where they would make sexual decisions. You can’t guarantee them choosing the hard abstinence option always…but yes, you can at least protect them.
Here is what you should do. Thoroughly educate them on sex, be supportive, and listening, and yes, provide them with condoms if need be. The truth is many parents are not aware of when their kids make these sex decisions.
Certainly, you can’t pile up condoms on the dining table for your kids. That is not being supportive. Being supportive in its genuine meanings means being an “active partner” in your kid’s sexual journey.
Parental care exceeds providing the turkey on Thanksgiving. You must be emotionally available for your kids, especially in sensitive matters relating to sex and their relationships. The more you stay away from this critical function, the more sexually vulnerable your kids become. Simple!
Your kids must be able to trust you enough to open up that cupboard of sexual secrets to you. They should tell you when they are developing sexual attraction for an individual and when their partners (in a relationship) are pressuring them into unprotected sex.
More than just providing a condom for your child, teach them safe sex. Sex education is not a one-off conversation either. It must be regular, accurate, and concise. Come on, don’t go into panic mode when the talk comes to condoms, be calm and assured.
As hard as it may appear, use the right words for genitals when teaching them about condoms. It won’t help if you disguise it with euphemistic slangs.
Lastly, don’t try to escape the questions your curious child would throw at you when the topic comes on. No doubt, the discussion isn’t as jolly as that on the next movie you guys will be watching on Netflix, but it has to be done anyways.