The Place We Find Ourselves #101: Talking to Your Children about Sex (two-part series)

In this episode, Adam Young and guest Bethany Robbins share personal vignettes of awkward sex conversations with their parents. In both cases, the message that they received was that dad and mom were NOT sanctuaries capable of explaining and celebrating this mysterious aspect of coming of age. As confused children, they were left with a profound loneliness as they navigated this terrain alone.  

This podcast suggests a doable and better way forward! It argues the root cause of parents’ poor communication about sex is their lack of awareness of the way sexuality was addressed in their family of origin. A parent’s discomfort is linked to unprocessed shame that makes it difficult to talk with their own children about sex. And there is so much at stake. Children have big feelings around sex, and without a mother or father who has a healthy expression of their own sexuality, children are left to hold secrets that are too much to handle.

What if kids instinctively knew that their parents were open and that they could explore this topic confidently with them? The first episode makes the case for parents to address their own sexual shame. The second episode addresses practical stuff: key points to address when talking to your children about sex – including the topic of pornography – and how to help kids name the feeling of sexual arousal and bless that feeling.