Be more productive at the office -- take sex ed

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School-based sex ed is so old-fashioned, not to mention of sometimes questionable relevance (depending on the school and, thus, the content). But work-based sex ed -- this could be the wave of the future.

Researchers had already established that kids whose parents talk to them about sexuality are more likely to delay intercourse, use contraception and have fewer partners.

But these are not always easy conversations to have, and some parents feel embarrassed about them -- perhaps not knowing what to say or how to begin. So, to help, researchers decided to reach parents where they live -- at the office.

In a study published July 10 in the British Medical Journal, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston, Rand and elsewhere reported on a study of 569 parents at 13 Southern California work sites. The parents were either given training on how to talk to their kids about sex or put into a control group. Parents in both groups and their adolescent offspring (generally ages 11-16) were sent questionnaires periodically.

And it paid off. The study found that parents who received how-to-talk-to-your-kids lessons (one hour a week for eight weeks) were much more likely to have discussed previously unmentioned sex-related topics with their kids. Among the topics: menstruation, wet dreams, birth control, what sex feels like, how to prevent STDs, what to do if a partner doesn’t want to use a condom, knowing when you’re ‘in love,’ and how to say ‘no.’

An example of the results: Nine months after the program, ‘Talking Parents, Healthy Teens,’ 29% of parents who had gotten these communication lessons had discussed with their kids how to use a condom -- compared with 5% of parents in the business-as-usual control group. At the same time, parents in the intervention group (and kids of parents in the intervention group) reported more openness in their discussions about sex than did their control-group counterparts.

No one said it would be easy, just that it doesn’t have to be quite so difficult. For some pointers, try Talking With Kids About Tough Issues. The site, sponsored by Children Now and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, encourages parents to talk to their kids about difficult topics such as sex, violence and alcohol.

There’s also Answer, part of the Center for Applied Psychology at Rutgers University, which offers sex-ed resources for parents, training for educators and other professionals, and, of course, Sex, etc., a website and magazine on sexual health written for teens, by teens. Parents who consider themselves ill-informed might want to go straight to the magazine.

Or they could just tell their kids never to have sex. Ever. Until they get married. At age 30.

-- Tami Dennis

Photo: Assorted condoms