Sexual Life | Planned Parenthood

Educating Your Teen About Sex

Educating teens on the subject of sex is probably very awkward to say the least, but also one of the best things that a parent can do to help their teen through a very difficult time in their growth and development.

Many teens have bad information when it comes to sex. Talking to a teen about their knowledge of sex can sometimes be enlightening when they share with you their ideas on the subject. What’s even more surprising is how and where they got the information, which is sometimes from other teens who have gotten bad information.

The best way to address the issue of sex with teenagers is to be as completely honest and open as possible. Don’t go too fast with them as to overhwhelm them, but make the conversation very relaxed and low-key so that they feel comfortable discussing even the most embarrasing subjects with you.

Talk with them frequently and ‘off-the-cuff’ to see where their heads are. It’s important to know what they’re thinking since having bad information or incorrect information can lead them to make bad choices.

Although is best to take the journey slow and careful, it’s also good to be direct and honest with them about all aspects of sex. It won’t benefit them in any way to get a watered-down version of sex issues and subjects, but if they completely understand things, they have a better chance of approaching situations with full solid, good knowledge and education about the way situations work.

If you routinely ask your teen questions and leave the door open for them to be inquisitive, you are helping your child in a tremendous way by showing them the importance of having good information. As you are candid in your answers, they will learn too to be candid in their approach, and the mystery of sex will be lifted making it seem less awkward for the teen and the parent.

Filed Under: Sexual Life, Sexual Problem Tagged With: Adolescence, Sex, Sex education

The Dangers of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Being sexually active exposes a person to risks involved with having a sexual lifestyle. Pregnancies, infections and diseases contracted through having sex are some of the risks that are taken. When a person contracts a sexually transmitted disease, they can alter the quality of their life, routine and perhaps have to even change their lifestyle to accommodate dealing with their new health status.

Although sexually transmitted diseases are difficult to deal with, they are not to be taken as a life sentence for the person who suffers from them. The diagnosis does not have to become a permanent part of their lives, but can be managed well enough so that they can lead a degree of normalcy everyday.

There are things that a person can do however to avoid contracting a sexually transmitted disease and altering their quality of life and their everyday routine. Some things include:

- Managing the number of sexual partners that they have. Be selective in the choices of sexual partners. Don’t have random sex with multiple partners. Know your partners.

- Always use protection of some kind during sex, preferably condoms. They are very effective in helping to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies.

- Always visit the doctor for scheduled check-ups and routine bloodwork. Know your body and what’s going on with it by asking questions and staying abreast of any changes and developments.

- Inquire of your sexual partners about their past sexual history and any other partners that they may have been with. Inquire about any past illnesses or sexually-related infections or other diseases. Ask and expect honesty, but also keep yourself protected as well.

You can enjoy a sexually-fulfilling lifestyle void of diseases by being proactive and knowledgeable on the subject. By taking good care of yourself both physically and mentally, you will certainly appreciate it in the long run.

Filed Under: Sexual Health, Sexual Life, Sexual Problem Tagged With: Disease, Human sexual activity, Sexually transmitted disease

The Onset of Puberty

: Image via Wikipedia

Ask any teenager and they will tell you that the most difficult time in their life is the beginning of their teenage years, also known as puberty. Also, ask the parent of any teenager the same question, and you’ll likely get the same answer. Puberty is a very emotionally-draining and physically-taxing time on both the teenager and the parent’s than most anything else.

Faced with puberty, many teens have questions, concerns and want to know more about their bodies and what’s going on. What they might NOT do is ask these questions out loud to an adult (specifically their parents), a counselor or any other adult. What they’re more likely to do is discuss it with their friends or muddle through it all alone. This may be a time where they will recieve bad or incorrect information, leading them to be ill-informed and make bad choices. It can be a very lonely, scary and upsetting time for many kids.

Adults who are around teens experiencing puberty can help them out tremendously by offering their own words of motivation, sharing their own experiences and giving them a listening ear to talk to and to vent to. This is important for them because the onset of puberty can be different for each teen at different stages of their development.

After the teen has reached a comfortable point in their maturtiy and development where they feel that they can safely discuss their feelings with an adult, they will find that things will become easier for them to manage. The stress level somewhat diminishes, the emotional outbursts may decrease and they may begin to feel more at ease with their bodies and themselves. Their confidence level may also begin to take a turn, showing good signs of a well-adjusted, stable and emotionally-developing teenager on the path towards adult development.

Filed Under: Sexual Health, Sexual Life, Sexual Problem Tagged With: Adolescence, Emotion, Parent, Puberty

5 Myths About Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sexually transmitted diseases (known also as STD’s) can occur without between partners at any time, and some may even manifest without symptoms. Since they are transmitted through sexual, physical contact, there can also be an occurence of sexually transmitted infections that occur but present with symptoms that differ slightly from STD’s.

Unfortunately, sexually transmitted diseases are often misunderstood in the ways that they’re transmitted, which can cause them to be further spread. Some erroneous information about STD’s include:

- Transmission only occurs through genital sex. This is incorrect since sexual diseases and infections can be transferred through oral and anal sex as well. This also includes tranmission through bodily fluids like saliva (kissing).

- Condoms help prevent STD’s. This is true but only if the condoms are used correctly to prevent breakage or slippage. Since condoms are also used as a method of birth control, they are also thought to help prevent sexual diseases as well. In both instances however, they must be properly used to avoid any mishaps from occuring.

- STD’s are not painful and no symptoms will occur. This is untrue because there are multiple symptoms that can occur with sexual diseases. If a person has had exposure to any sexual diseases through their partners, they should be examined by a physician immediately.

Reportedly, there are approximately 15 million cases of diseases that are transmitted sexually, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirm that these statistical cases occur in the United States. HIV is the most commonly transmitted sexual disease that is reported with others that also occur but less frequently including syphillis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, genital herpes and bacterial vaginosis.

Individuals who are at a high risk for acquiring a sexually transmitted disease include adolescents and young adults, which are often those who are sexually inexperienced.

Filed Under: Sexual Health, Sexual Life, Sexual Problem Tagged With: HIV, Sexually transmitted disease, United States

How to Practice Safe Sex

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Practicing safe sex is very important for young people who are just starting to experiment with sex, or for anyone who inexperienced or has multiple partners. Many sexual diseases and infections can be avoided if individuals learn to practice safe sex and develop habits that will help them make good choices.

Developing safe sex habits can be achieved in several ways, depending on the person’s lifestyle and exposure to outside factors. For instance, knowing what kinds of habits can cause a sexually transmitted disease can help a person tremendously when they’re faced with making a decision to become sexually active. Other safe sex practices can include:

- Never have unprotected sex. Use a condom each time you have a sexual encounter and decrease your chances of becoming infected with a disease or illness.

- Continually educate yourself on sex education issues and related topics. Staying ahead on what’s going on in medical developments in sexual health will help you make good, informed choices.

- Seek counseling or medical intervention if you need to. Don’t wait until there’s an issue before you seek outside advice. Be proactive in your sexual medical health by getting regular checkups and asking questions about any sexually-related issues that concern you.

- Before engaging in sex with a partner, find out more about their prior sex life by asking questions and communicating. Although it may feel or seem awkward at first, it’s better to do that than it would be to encounter a problem later.

Many potential problems can be avoided by individuals when they adopt safe sex practices. It’s not a one-time task, but it is something that should be a big part of the person’s life. By taking the time to adopt safe sex practices, they are creating lifestyle that will be more healthier and satisfying to them in their future.

Filed Under: Contraception, Sexual Life Tagged With: Safe sex, Sex education, Sexually transmitted disease

Responsible Sexual Behavior is Life-changing

Sexual behavior and planned parenthood are not fun and games. They are part of being a responsible and mature human being. Young sexual troubles, including unwanted pregnancies, often occur because youngsters don’t have a sense of responsibility regarding the consequences of their sexual interactions.

Irresponsible sexual behaviors cause more than unwanted pregnancies. They can cause mental, emotional, and psychological distress on young people, especially girls. Being aware or seeking counseling for planned parenthood doesn’t indicate that people want to start a family. It just makes them aware of the ways and means of being responsible for their sexual behavior so that an unwanted human life doesn’t take shape on this planet.

Planned parenthood has become critically important because young people see images on media—films, televisions, Internet—that appeal to their sexuality. These images rarely show kids a need to seek more responsibility for their actions or convey to them that they should not indulge in any activity which badly affects another person.

More importantly, young people get the idea that sex implies love. It becomes all about physicality and rarely about emotion. Planned parenthood counseling is crucial because it can help prevent irresponsible sexual behavior and acts due to peer pressure at schools, colleges, and social groups, including social networking sites like Facebook.

With middle-aged parents often having to take care of elderly parents in need of an assisted living facility, they don’t need the stress of dealing with their teenager’s pregnancy. It may be beneficial for young people to get counseling to help them cope and overcome the upheaval that irresponsible sex can create.

Young people may not need drastic measures if they get adequate emotional and social support from friends and family and are themselves prepared to go in for planned parenthood. Without that kind of support, where else will young teenagers learn these particular facts of life?

Filed Under: Sexual Health, Sexual Life Tagged With: Facebook, Human sexual activity, Unintended pregnancy

The Woes of Birth Control

: Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

It’s understandable that health insurance companies elect to pay for Viagra for men, as a lack of Viagra can be quite distressing for those particular men who need the . . . er, assistance. However, for health insurance companies to willingly pay for Viagra, a recreational drug, and then deny drugs that are much more necessary for women, seems sexist. Taking birth control, for some women, is a matter of sexual health, whereas for others it is merely a tool in the process of having safe sex. Birth control can be used for medical reasons that are much more serious and necessary than Viagra, yet, even in these cases, insurance will not cover the cost of the medication.

For women with cystic, or poly cystic ovaries, birth control is not just a matter of sexual health, but a matter of overall well being. If a woman needs birth control in order to be reproductive, in order to keep herself fertile, then her insurance company should pay for these cheap pills, rather than forcing her down a road that ends with $15,000 sperm injections in the vain hopes of having babies from an infertile womb. The average birth control costs $420 per year. If a health insurance company pays for birth control for the average duration of medication for an average female in the United States, it would equal $10,080 (based upon the typical 24 years of use). Even women who hit menopause late in life would be less expensive to insure via birth control, rather than invitro fertilization, and that’s assuming that a woman would only require one attempt (typically, three attempts are required to induce pregnancy).

The dollars and cents don’t add up in the case of potentially infertile women as a result of no birth control. Though Planned Parenthood offers birth control to poor women at reduced rates, there is still no recourse for women who resent their placement, firmly beneath Viagra users on the totem of importance.

Filed Under: Contraception, Sexual Health, Sexual Life Tagged With: Birth control, Health, Health insurance, Insurance, United States

Talking About Sex With Openness and Love

Way back when, people didn’t like to talk about out the facts of life. You know, sex. It’s a pretty important thing to know about, yet no one was willing to even sit down and be honest about it. They danced around it with talk about the “birds and the bees”. The menstrual cycle was made to sound like some unspeakable horror show, even though it’s the most natural thing in the world. It was all treated as something that had to be hidden away. Some adults even made it sound as though a boy just had to breath on a girl to make her pregnant. Then they’d have to get payday loans to pay for an abortion, and their lives would be ruined forever. Crazy stuff. It was a funny way to deal with one of most important aspects of our lives and relationships, but that’s how it all went.

Today the topic still brings feelings of embarrassment and self-consciousness to many adults, but at least there is a general social agreement that it’s okay to discuss sex openly. Avoiding an honest conversation with your son or daughter is not a winning strategy. They are hearing about sex from their friends, from the media, and from other adults. It’s important that you are part of the conversation.

Stay relaxed when you talk to your child about the big issues relating to sex. You’ll convey your message more easily and let them know by your attitude that sex is completely natural. Let them know about reproduction in a way that’s understandable for their age. Think through your own attitudes about the larger issues — birth control, sexually transmitted diseases, and teen pregnancy – so you can discuss them from a place that is comfortable for you.

Most importantly, know that speaking honestly with your child about sex is a loving and responsible act.

Filed Under: General, Sexual Health, Sexual Life Tagged With: Sex education, Sexuality, Sexually transmitted disease, Teenage pregnancy

Get Involved with Teen Pregnancy Prevention!

Planned Parenthood online needs your help in the constant raging battles of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Help is needed in many different arenas, and for many different skill sets. Whether you want a secretarial position, or something more active, Planned Parenthood needs your help in advocating for teens and their sexual health.

Once you decide to take action, there are a lot of things that you can do. From visiting town halls in your local region, to a visit out to Capitol Hill to wave signs at senators, Planned Parenthood needs to constantly advocate for the sexual health and wellness of teens, and the spreading of information for preventative methods. Affordable health care for the reproductive system is not common, and teens are often the poorest part of our culture, so they need your voice to support them and help Planned Parenthood get funding.

Donate to your local Planned Parenthood, or to the organization at large, so that teens can find support and affordable or free assistance. Don’t leave your kids vulnerable to curiosity and the ensuing STDs and unwanted pregnancies; it was cute in Juno, but in real life it’s much more complicated than that.

Get a job working for Planned Parenthood, and enjoy the rewarding feeling of serving the public on a daily basis. An equal opportunity employer, Planned Parenthood reviews all applications.

Volunteers are needed in the offices, too! If you don’t want to wave signs and write letters to senators, then volunteering in an office may be the perfect way for you to help out.

If you want to help, but don’t have funds or time, you can spread the word by simply adding Planned Parenthood on Facebook. Your link to Planned Parenthood could lead to hundreds of potential contributors or volunteers, which is much appreciated.

Your efforts on behalf of America’s teens are the difference that is needed in the world. Thanks!

Filed Under: Pregnancy, Sexual Health, Sexual Life Tagged With: Health, Planned Parenthood, Reproductive health

Sexual Health for Adults

Though most sexual health emphasis is placed on young children who need the services of Planned Parenthood, there are issues that concern adults, too. Adults have issues that would elude young adults, and that would positively disturb them! For example, did you know that a male adult who has been exposed to BPAs during his life will often face sexual impairment and require a medication like Cyalis in order to function normally? This is something that particularly affects adults, and the adult consciousness of choices and effects, but it is related to sexual health.

When did sexual health, a heady, grown-up issue, become an issue that mostly concerned young people? The sexual revolution allowed younger people to be aware of themselves and their culture, politics of that age and sexual discrimination. Since then, it seems, all matters concerning sex have been targeted at younger, and younger audiences each decade. Online marketers are focusing on young people for campaigns, and creating products made for young adults. It’s easy to forget that adult sexual health is an issue of vital importance, too.

SexualHealth.com is a site for adults (and yes, young people) to learn about important issues, and discuss them in private forums. SexualHealth.com believes that everyone has the right to access educational information, to an accurate sex education, to privacy, and also to freedom of choice. Sexual Health wants individuals to be free from outside influences when determining orientation, and to learn to respect the rights of all others. Making decisions that are carefully thought-out and planned is an important aspect of being a conscious person. For your sexual health, you must always make choices that you can be proud of, and live with for the rest of your life. No one should ever be coerced into choices about sexuality, sexual health, or parenthood, according to SexualHealth.com.

Filed Under: Sexual Health, Sexual Life Tagged With: Reproductive health, Sex education, Sexuality