A mother recently asked me if teenage boys need pornography - whether that visual stimulation is really, really important to them and their sexual development. My answer? No. Teenage boys do not need porn. They may want porn. They may seek out porn. They may be fascinated by porn. [...]
Archives for December, 2007
More on talking about sex
I have posted before on how to talk with your kids about sex before. But here’s an additional tip: Practice saying all of those tricky words (penis, vagina, vulva, orgasm, ejaculate, etc.) beforehand. In fact, practice saying them right now! Just getting over the embarrassment of hearing your own voice saying “oral sex” can be [...]
More teenagers giving birth! Ack! Run around like a chicken with your head cut off! Ack!
So the liberal blog-o-sphere is simply agog with the CDC announcement that the adolescent birth rate has risen for the first time in fourteen years (it had been steadily falling). Bush’s abstinence-only “sex education” policy has been taken to the cleaners with this announcement. Here’s a quote from the CDC announcement that [...]
The pill without a pelvic exam
Thanks so much to Heather Corinna from Scarleteen for this information.
Planned Parenthood is now dispensing the pill without a pelvic exam. You can read more about it.
This is a relatively unusual program. Planned Parenthood’s requirements are that you do not have:
certain conditions that make it inadvisable to use a hormonal method [of birth control]
symptoms [...]
Vaginal exams and the Pill
Recently a young woman wrote me asking this question:
I am 19 and just recently lost my virginity, so my mom and I talked about how I should get on the pill. I’ve never had a pelvic exam (against my mom’s wishes) because I’m really shy and nervous about it, but she [...]
Juno and St. Nicholas
I am hopeful that the new movie Juno will be a good one. It’s about a teenage girl who gets pregnant - but it appears to deal with the subject with humor and at least a touch of realism. Watch the preview - click on “video” on the homepage.
And happy Saint Nicholas Day!
Abortion and politics
RH Reality Check had a really great post on abortion yesterday. While I highly recommend you read the whole thing, here are several of the points that stood out to me:
“There were many disturbing moments during the Republican presidential debates last week . . . But what had to be one of the more [...]
My voice, teen voices
Today, I have no voice. Literally. We’re passing a little cold around our house, and it seems to have hit me the worst. (Hence the late post today - sorry about that!) So yesterday afternoon as I was teaching my second class of the day, my voice disintegrated into nothing. [...]
The One Question Rule
Several weeks ago I wrote about using the Socratic method. And while I stand by what I said in that post, I realized through talking with several parents that I need to include a caveat: the Socratic method only works if you are in a completely calm and open place. It only [...]
