Lin Myers Jovanovic
Parents worry about when to start teaching their kids about sex. Few received an adequate sex education from their own parents and being faced with it now can feel overwhelming. This book is the first of its kind to teach parents how to prepare themselves to meet the challenge. The author, a long-time sex educator, therapist, and researcher, knows the pain that many parents experience. Accordingly, she has developed a 9-step program to take them through this process. Each step provides brief information and practical exercises that guide parents into becoming the definitive sex educator in their child’s world. The exercises help them develop a much fuller understanding of when, where, and how their own attitudes and beliefs developed as well as clarifying what their values are. Advice and techniques for self-calming are included to help parents ease their anxiety about having sex conversations with their child. The author also demonstrates ways for parents to raise the effectiveness of their communication skills and parental teamwork to a much higher level. “Project Parent: Preparing Yourself for Your Child’s Sex Education” doesn’t stint on the nuts-and-bolts information. Readers will learn when topics are age appropriate, general resources for expanding their own sex education, and guidance on how to inform the other people in their child’s life about their wishes regarding their child’s upbringing. These covers members of extended and blended families, medical and school personnel, childcare or foster-care settings, and religious communities. In addition, the author gives information and resources for a long list of specific child-rearing challenges: medical problems, mental illness, past sexual or physical abuse, and children who are gender diverse, questioning WHAT DO YOU MEAN?, or transgender, deaf, blind, or on the autism spectrum. Parents can’t just get over their anxieties, fear, or worries about their child’s sex education. They need information and insight and this is the book that will give them that. A no-nonsense and caring guide, it will navigate parents successfully through the rough waters of sex education.
