G&STC Director Talks with Gabrielle Kassel About Why Teenagers Having Sex isn’t Inherently Bad or Harmful
Check out G&STC’s Director Jesse Kahn talking with Gabrielle Kassel at Healthline about why it’s not always bad or harmful for teens to be sexually active.
You need to supplement whatever your teen is learning at school by making medically accurate information available to them, says Jesse Kahn, LCSW-R, CST, director and sex therapist at The Gender & Sexuality Therapy Center in New York City.
These conversations aren’t always easy. They can stir up your own internalized sex negativity, homophobia, cis-normativity, and more.
“If you don’t feel prepared to have those conversations as a caregiver, you can consult with sex educators and sex therapists who can help you unlearn what you don’t want to pass down, create age-appropriate scripts for communicating with your teenager, and gain confidence and comfort speaking about sex generally and with your teen,” says Kahn
Read the full article here.
More from G&STC Director Jesse Kahn on this topic:
What’s most important when considering teenagers having sex is providing them with comprehensive sex education. Sex education should be intended to help young people gain the skills, tools and information to make informed decisions, choices, negotiations and communication about sex, sexuality, gender and relationships both with themselves and others.
For caregivers of teenagers, the best things you can do include: advocating for comprehensive sex education, unlearning your own sex negativity, heteronormativity, cisnormativity, and moralism, and open up the lines of communication so your teen knows they can come to you if needed. It’s important to highlight topics such as consent, bodily autonomy, emotional impact of sex, communication, risk management, and more. If you don’t feel prepared to have those conversations as a caregiver, you can consult with sex educators and sex therapists who can help you unlearn what you don’t want to pass down, create age appropriate scripts for communicating with your teenager, and help you gain confidence and comfort speaking about sex generally and with your teen.
Prevention for unwanted pregnancies and STI transmission includes comprehensive sex ed.