What Parents Don't Know Can Hurt Their Kids

One in four girls and nearly one in two boys who have had sexual intercourse said their parents didn't know about it, according to a 2002 national survey of 503 teens ages 15 to 17. The survey is part of SexSmarts, an ongoing public information partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and seventeen magazine.

Close to half of the teens surveyed said they have never talked with their parents about sexual decision-making, or about other sexual health issues.

Why not? The answers include embarrassment, not knowing how to bring it up, fear parents will assume they're active if they ask and fear parents won't understand.

And young people aren't getting information from their health care providers either, according to the survey. Only one-third report hearing from providers about sexually transmitted diseases and closer to one in four report having conversations about any form of birth control. Why? Again, the reasons given by youth are embarrassment, feeling ill-equipped to bring up the topic and fear the physician will tell their parents.

For more information about SexSmarts, visit seventeen.com/sexsmarts. Information for this report is from SexSmarts publication No. 3240.

Why don't teens talk to parents about sex?

• 83% are worried about their parents' reaction
• 80% said they think their parents will assume they're sexually active
• 78% are just too embarrassed to bring it up
• 77% said they don't know how to bring it up
• 64% said they don't think their parents would understand