Site Login
The Importance Of Teaching Your Teenage Child That It Is Okay To Say No
Make sure that you teach your children the ins and outs of dating and sex from an early age and bolster this message from time to time. In particular, help your teens to learn that dating means getting to know the other person emotionally and not simply physically.
Teens will often have a 'one track mind' and you will need to hint at other things for them to do on a date rather than just focusing their minds on having sex. This might appear silly but you would be amazed at how often teenagers choose sex as an option just because they are bored and cannot think of anything else to do. So, as crazy as it might appear you really will need to propose things that your teens can do on a date to enjoy themselves. If you can succeed in getting them to stay busy enough then there is a good chance that they will have to say no less often.
Many parents teach their children how to go about saying no to sex and give them a long string of excuses or one-liners. The is fine but a retort only tends to work once and simply brushing off the idea with a retort is simply putting the question off in the short term and leaving the door open for the idea to come up again and again. The solution therefore is to instruct your child to simply say no firmly and clearly and that, though they might wish to give a reason, they should not have to do so and merely saying no is enough.
Should you find yourself in the position where your teen has already experimented with sex then you could believe that it is too late to talk to them about saying no. This is unquestionably not the case. A lot of teens feel that once they have had sex once they cannot reasonably refuse to do so again. The fact that they have experimented with sex however does not mean that this issue can simply be 'crossed off' their development list and you have to make it clear that they can refuse sex if they feel ill at ease. You also need to discuss with them the fact that having sex should always be something important and special and that a great deal myth surrounds the significance of their initial sexual encounter.
While teaching your teenagers about the importance of establishing relationships on a great deal more than just sex, it is also important to combine this with instructing your teens about safe sex. No matter how much you might want to do so you cannot always stop your teenagers from having sex. You can nevertheless provide yourself with at least some peace of mind by attempting to see that your teenagers stay safe, even if they do not listen to your advice to stand stand their ground and make wise choices.
