Talking about Relationships and Sex;

As a parent we face many challenges raising our children, one of which is talking about Relationships, Sex and Consent.  This is made even more complicated with the rise of smartphones, easy access to information for good or ill, sexualised imagery and pornography, and often unrealistic lives depicted through social media.  Often they may be just as confused about all this as us parents and need someone to listen to their concerns and worries, or just explore different aspects of relationships to help them stay healthy and safe.  There is lots of help out there and the following link offers some useful information and advice.

Brook - Parent Zone

Online Safety and Sexting

Online safety has been a growing concern on recent years and there are some useful sources of information to explain how children can be kept safe.  A couple of useful sites are;

UK Safer internet Centre

Thinkuknow

NSPCC

Parent Info also provides a site dedicated to supporting parents with information and knowledge to help support their children navigate the digital world.

Parent Info

Sexting

The first point here is that research undertaken by the NSPCC in 2016 highlighted that most young people are not engaged in sexting and it is a minority of young people who take or send sexts (or Naked / semi-naked Selfies).  Some useful links to find out more are;

Thinkuknow (section on Sexting)

NSPCC (section on sexting)

Online harassment (New parents guidance from Childrens Commissioner 2021)

Pornography

NSPCC research in 2016 showed around 28% of children aged 11/12 had seen pornographic material with both actively seeking this and accidental exposure being the case. Maintaining an open conversation with children about this issue will make it easier, if they are exposed to this material, to be able to talk with you about what they have seen and how they felt about it.

Thinkuknow (section around pornography)

Consent

Consent is a key aspect of relationships, and especially in sexual relationships, which in many ways should be very straightforward.  The old adage of "No means No" is useful but what if a No isn't obvious? Consent is only given where there is a clear and obvious "Yes" either verbally or through body language. The following website offers a useful video and information explaining consent more fully, including how alcohol for example can affect consent;

Consent is Everything

Sexuality

Being able to express sexuality without fear of discrimination and / or harm is an important part of positive sexual health, The Brunswick Centre offer support to young people who are LGBTQ and more information can be found through their website

Brunswick Centre

Substance Misuse

Alcohol or other substances can increase the risk of unsafe sex and / or regret where people perhaps go further than intended.  Calderdale's Branching Out service can support young people who are finding that there substance misuse is affecting their lives, and a family support service helps those around them.

Branching Out

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's)

Did you know there were approximately 470000 infections diagnosed in England and Wales in 2019 with Chlamydia accounting for almost half of STI's diagnosed.  We have also seen concerning increases in gonorrhoea in the last few years along with a rise in drug resistant strains of this particular infection.  We also know the highest rates occur in young people aged 15 to 25, for example this age group account for approximately two thirds of all infections despite only making up atround 11% of the population.  For more information on different STI's and the risks see our STI page.

Sexually Transmitted Infections