Have You Had “The Talk”?

Have your parents had “the talk” with you? You know the one I mean…the sex talk. Having the talk is something many parents dread…they never know when to have it, how much to divulge, and it how to go about it.

But the benefits to talking about sex with your parents are unquestionable. A recent survey by O Magazine and Seventeen Magazine found that when parents, especially mothers, talk with their daughters explicitly about sex, their daughters are half as likely to get pregnant, are more likely to practice safe sex, and have fewer regrets about sex.

I can’t actually remember my mom, or my dad for that matter, ever having “the talk” with me. I grew up in a fairly religious household where the assumption was that both my sister and I would wait until marriage to lose our virginity. Maybe my mom did share a few things with me, but no more info than I’d already gotten from Health Ed.

And it seems that today there is still a big disconnect between moms and daughters when it comes to the talk. The O and Seventeen survey found that 90% of moms said they’d had the sex talk with their daughters, but only 51% of the girls said they had.

While the talk has the potential to be uncomfortable and, let’s face it, strange, it’s important to be able to talk honestly and openly about sex. And you don’t have to wait around for your parents to break the ice…if they haven’t brought it up yet with you, chances are they’re not sure how to get started. So why not give them some help? O and Seventeen editors Gayle King and Ann Shoket offered their suggestions for how teen girls can encourage the “talk” to happen in a positive way on Good Morning America earlier this week. Here are their ideas:

• Bring up the subject casually
• Use movies or TV as ice-breakers
• Calm your mother’s fears
• Be sure to discuss birth control
• Don’t be afraid to ask uncomfortable questions

Have you had “the talk” with your mom or dad? If so, who brought it up? How did it go?