Parents Information Guide
Do want to help your teens understand and respect the beauty and gravity of their sexuality?
Do want to know where to start?
Theology of the Body helps redevelop a true catholic perspective of life that is tangible. This enables teens to understand why it is not in their best interest to engage in premarital sex, pornography, and immodest behavior. Without a true moral, ethical, and spiritual compass it is difficult to make the right choices. Learn more
Sex is part of God’s plan of spousal love for us. We shouldn’t be afraid of it. It is a gift to be treasured and shared. What a wonderful gift it will be for your children to know and experience sexual love as God intended.
Tips
• Keep the lines of communication open. Find the times and places that best work for talking with
your teen. Having dinner together as a family is a proven communication tool.
• Set boundaries that are respected. Make sure there are consequences when your boundaries are
not respected. Curfew times, calling home when a child will be late, responsibility for school
work and household chores, and rules about company at the house must be clearly understood
and obeyed. When they are not, it is your responsibility as a parent to take the appropriate
remedial action, firmly but fairly. Every child makes mistakes. A parent’s job is to ensure he or
she learns from those mistakes and does not repeat them.
• Don’t allow one-on-one dating in the early teen years. The earlier girls begin dating, the higher
the risk of engaging in premarital sex, having multiple sex partners, becoming pregnant and
having an abortion. This is especially true when the boyfriend is older.
• Keep alcohol off-limits to your teens. One in five sexually-active teens says they were using drugs
or alcohol when they lost their virginity. ( “SexSmarts” survey, conducted by the Kaiser
Family Foundation and Seventeen magazine, 2003, summary publication #3368)
• Live your faith as a family. Teens in families who actively practice a religious faith are less likely
to engage in premarital sex and other risky behaviors. (In its 2001 national survey, Faithful
Nation, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that religious and moral
values were the most important factors affecting a teen’s decision whether to have sex. Parents
were the most influential people influencing their decisions.
Do want to know where to start?
Theology of the Body helps redevelop a true catholic perspective of life that is tangible. This enables teens to understand why it is not in their best interest to engage in premarital sex, pornography, and immodest behavior. Without a true moral, ethical, and spiritual compass it is difficult to make the right choices. Learn more
Sex is part of God’s plan of spousal love for us. We shouldn’t be afraid of it. It is a gift to be treasured and shared. What a wonderful gift it will be for your children to know and experience sexual love as God intended.
Tips
• Keep the lines of communication open. Find the times and places that best work for talking with
your teen. Having dinner together as a family is a proven communication tool.
• Set boundaries that are respected. Make sure there are consequences when your boundaries are
not respected. Curfew times, calling home when a child will be late, responsibility for school
work and household chores, and rules about company at the house must be clearly understood
and obeyed. When they are not, it is your responsibility as a parent to take the appropriate
remedial action, firmly but fairly. Every child makes mistakes. A parent’s job is to ensure he or
she learns from those mistakes and does not repeat them.
• Don’t allow one-on-one dating in the early teen years. The earlier girls begin dating, the higher
the risk of engaging in premarital sex, having multiple sex partners, becoming pregnant and
having an abortion. This is especially true when the boyfriend is older.
• Keep alcohol off-limits to your teens. One in five sexually-active teens says they were using drugs
or alcohol when they lost their virginity. ( “SexSmarts” survey, conducted by the Kaiser
Family Foundation and Seventeen magazine, 2003, summary publication #3368)
• Live your faith as a family. Teens in families who actively practice a religious faith are less likely
to engage in premarital sex and other risky behaviors. (In its 2001 national survey, Faithful
Nation, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that religious and moral
values were the most important factors affecting a teen’s decision whether to have sex. Parents
were the most influential people influencing their decisions.
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