Tips for Parents and Guardians

Key points

  • Parents and guardians can positively influence their teen's decisions.
  • Your teen needs your help to make healthy choices about sex and relationships.

How to support your teen

Sexual development is a normal part of the teen years. Your teens need your help in understanding their feelings, how to have healthy relationships and navigate peer pressure, and how to say no if they do not want to have sex. If your teens start having sex, they need to know how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Teens want to talk with their parents about sex and relationships. Most youth report discussing health topics with parents, including sexual and reproductive health. Parents can have a positive impact on whether their teens make healthy decisions. This goes for making healthy decisions about sex, as well. Parents can also help their teens understand what constitutes a healthy relationship. Research shows that teens who talk with their parents about sex, relationships, birth control, and pregnancy:

  • Begin to have sex at later age.
  • Use condoms and birth control more often if they do have sex.
  • Have better communication with romantic partners.
  • Have sex less often.

Resources

Here are some resources—specifically for parents—where you can find information and tips to help you talk with your teen about sex, birth control, relationships, pregnancy, and other related topics.

Talking with teens

Healthy relationships

Birth control

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

Find a clinic near you

Family planning clinics across the country are available to provide reproductive health care to adolescents. Visit the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Population Affairs' website to find a clinic near you.

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Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP); Division of Reproductive Health