3221.0: Monday, November 13, 2000 - Board 2

Abstract #8392

Talking with kids about tough issues

Learning Objectives: Participants will learn that an important component of health promotion for adolescents is positive parent-child communications, particularly around sensitive topics such as sex, AIDS/HIV, alcohol/drug abuse, and violence.

• Talking with kids while they are pre-adolescents about tough issues is a powerful form of prevention-a genuine deterrent to risky teen-age behavior.
• Children today are confronting issues about sex, relationships, violence, drugs and alcohol at increasingly early ages. Experts identify ages 8-12 as an important "window of opportunity" when children want to hear about tough issues from their parents.
• Parents say they would like more information about how and when to raise these issues. They want to protect their kids, educate them, and impart their values, but they express uncertainty about how and when to do so.
• Public Health Professionals have the unique opportunity to encourage parents to begin having conversations with their child about sex and other tough issues.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Talking with Kids about Tough Issues is sponsored by Children Now and The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Both organizations have partnered to develop free supportive parent guides
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA