Poster campaign urges parents to talk to their children about sex

National charity Parentline Plus is to launch a new poster campaign urging parents to talk to their children about relationships and sex.

The charity says it hopes to be able to provide even greater support to parents like the mother who was unaware her 14-year old daughter had undergone an abortion as recently reported in the national media.

As part of the Time to Talk campaign, a poster and series of cards will be targeting parents and carers to offer support in talking to their kids about relationships and sex.

The charity has produced the thought-provoking materials after their recent report ‘’Talking about sex and relationships, what parents worry about’ revealed how difficult parents find this issue.

And as the government publish guidelines for health workers which says that advice about sexual health can be given without parents’ knowledge or consent (for under 16s), the charity hope to stop the communication gap widening by getting parents and kids talking.

The posters and cards have been developed following extensive consultation with parents and will be displayed in venues across the country, including doctors’ surgeries.

Evidence suggests that when teenagers talk to their parents about sex, they are more likely to delay sexual activity and use contraception. But even though a recent poll revealed that 86% of parents feel strongly that there would be fewer teenage pregnancies if more parents talked to their children about sex, relationships and contraception, there is still a reluctance to start those conversations.

In fact some 50% of teenagers say they receive little or no information from their parents.

Dorit Braun, Chief Executive at Parentline Plus says, ‘The feedback we have from parents and carers is that they want to talk to their children about sex but don’t know where to start. There is a clear need for accessible and useful information on this subject which is why Parentline Plus has responded to parent’s requests with these new materials.’

The new ‘Time to Talk’ materials promote the charity’s 24 hour helpline 0808 800 22 22, website www.parentlineplus.org.uk and top tips for parents and carers. The charity has utilised its wealth of information direct from parents to create the materials, and has focussed on the issues parents really care about.

The charity passionately believes that parents are entitled to support and information and with 11% of calls to Parentline Plus accounting for this issue, the charity is confident that the new materials will have a significant impact in the number of calls and requests about Time to Talk. (click here for sample)