Parents - What on earth are we teaching our kids about sex?

I see so many "condom breaks" and am I pregnant questions from kids here? Are we not teaching them the value of waiting until marriage? Birth control helps protect from pregnancy, but what about the STD's? Condoms don't help with the nasty ones like herpes and warts. Here are some facts!
-Each year, one in four teens contracts an STD/STI.

One in two sexually active persons will contact an STD/STI by age 25.

About half of all new STDs occur among youth ages 15 to 24. The total estimated costs of these nine million new cases of these STDs is $6.5 billion, with HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV) accounting for 90% of the total burden.

One in four Americans have genital herpes, a lifelong infection, yet up to 90 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it.

With up to 1.6 million new infections each year, some estimates suggest that by 2025 up to 40% of all men and half of all women could be infected.

So is it enough to say, "Use Condoms" or should we say more?

Tell them to wait until marriage. Then you won't have to worry about catching or spreading disease. I find it ironic that the same parents that talk to their kids about "safe sex" won't tell them to REFRAIN.

STD's aren't the only thing children need to be careful of. There is also pregnancy and dealing with those circumstances.

There are also emotional issues to contend with.

God reserve sex for marriage for a reason.

Yeah, well, I lost my virginity when I was 10 and I'm fine.

Thank your for your comments, advice well taken. I hope all the readers take heed to your wisdom.

No, saying just use condoms condems or children into thinking that they are 100% safe with them. Which we know isnt true. You should tell them that yes use condoms but they are only 97% safe. What the best form of contraceptive is, is not having sex at all. Tell them that there's more to sex then just sex. There's the possiblity of pregnancy and STDS wether you used a condom or not. Tell them that there's emtional issues too. You can be used when having sex with someone you really care for but they may not feel the say way. Telling them to wait till there married or at least 18 or older is a good idea considering they will at least be out of highschool and able to handle a pregnancy better than when in higschool. I just think parents all in all dont wish to discuss sex with there children.

wait till they get married.this is a totally different day and age.i dont think parents are getting the point across at all to the kids.its sad really.i usually go to a different QnA web site and i see 13 and 14 year olds needing help cause they are prego.its sad really.i think the pill should be free and as soon as a female gets her period she should be put onto it.it would probably cut down on the amount of pregnancys.

Thank your for your comments, advice well taken

tell them the facts, medical & emotional. ALL of them. at least let them make informed decisions if they are going to have sex (and most ARE). the society in general is highly sexualized, and since there is no movement against this (at least one that's making progress) it is up to the parents. many parents don't even talk to their kids about sex, it's sad. the kids learn everything from their friends & tv.

Well, I get your point, but it's a fine line....my stepdaughter was raised to wait till marriage, so therefore, when she snuck out to 'see' this guy, the reason she became pregnant was in her words "well, if i was planning to have sex I would have had a condom, and since I was waiting for marriage, I didn't have any birthcontrol." So it's just NOT AS SIMPLE as you'd like it to be. With my other kids, I am going to take the approach to TALK TALK TALK about it, about STD's, pregnancy, peer pressure. I'm going to tell them that I want them to wait till they are old enough to handle the consequences, preferably when they are married or in a committed relationship, but to PLEASE always be prepared just in case....humans have this annoying tendancy to think they can resist temptation, to think that in the heat of the moment, the will make good choices, when in reality, most of us DO NOT.......

Well if the government would come up with a better way to educate the children of today on sex.. then we would not have to be telling these kids to "use condoms".. instead.. nobody talks about it and kids experiment til an accident happens. Then they are devastated when they find that right person to live their lives with and find out that they have herpes or even AIDS. I am not sure why parents don't talk about sex with their kids. I wish someone would have told me more when I was younger. It is a shame to see all these young children on welfare b/c they are pregnant and had no idea what they were getting into. And we on here are telling them.. that IF they are going to try to have sex.. please at least use a condom or some form of birth control.. cause kids will do it .. regardless of we on Yahoo say!!

We should say more way more.I am 26 and have had HPV since i was 24,i never even heard of it before i was told i had it.I have had to have my cervix cut,and go through alot of things i would never have went through had i known the facts.I wish they would have had that shot when i were younger i would be fine right now.My baby girl will definatley know the facts,and get the new shot they have for HPV.

personally, im 14 and i go to school with all these people and i see the real deal...it's usually not that the parent's aren't teaching the right thing, but rather that the kids are going against their parents wishes. I know what you're saying though...i'm a christian and i dont believe in sex before marriage, however i do know a lot of ppl who are christians just like me, but get caught up in the moment and give themselves away. it's very discouraging to know that i'm one of the only virgins left, but hey at least i know for sure that i'm not pregnant and that i don't have an std. i'd rather wait and make my honeymoon night even more special with my future husband. i thank God every single day that He has blessed me with parents who took the time and explained to me the value of which you were talking.
its rele sad though about those statistics...i can't imagine what that would be like....
y'all just remember...God's loves ya and i'm prayin for ya...
God Bless Y'all

well tell them use condoms and dont have sex without until you are married!! tell them they can get stds even with so you prefer they dont have sex at all but if they are going to tell them to use condoms that work and arent broke! that at least will get rid of the unwanted pregnancys or some of them!

on this site we should give the best advice possible to steer our younger generation down the right path. If you feel abstenance is the right thing to do, then preach on! But you also need to give the advice they are more likely to accept.