It's OK to discuss sex with your children, Bristol parents told

Parents are being encouraged to talk to their teenagers about sex in order to cut teen pregnancy rates.

A survey of Bristol parents published yesterday found that two thirds believe their youngsters do not want to talk about the issue.

But national research shows otherwise, with 75 per cent of young people stating that they want to talk to their mums and dads.

The Bristol Teenage Pregnancy Partnership has launched a campaign in response to the findings to help parents know how to talk to their children.

In Bristol, one in 20 girls aged under 18 become pregnant every year and the partnership, made up of the health trust, city council, colleges, schools and other organisations, believes that open conversations between parents and teenagers could cut the numbers.

Evidence has suggested that talking to teenagers could empower them to delay first sex, and promote safer sex, reducing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies.

Teenage Pregnancy Strategy co-ordinator, Anne Colquhoun, advised that parents should have conversations with their children while they are young so that they feel comfortable discussing personal matters as they reach their teens.

She said: "Approached in the right way, talking to your children about growing up, relationships and sex not only helps boost young people's confidence, but can also delay first sex and promote safer sex. "

She said that parents should discuss issues around sex when they arise and should refer to body parts by their real names.

Councillor Clare Campion-Smith, Bristol City Council's cabinet member for children and young people, said: "We know it can be hard for parents to talk to their children about relationships and sex and that in some cases their own sex education might have been poor.

"But by providing up-to-date information, we hope to give parents the confidence to start the kind of conversations with their children that the young people say they want."