• Shows respect, value and love for children.
  
• Realizes that every difficult situation is not a crisis.
  
• Wants communication, but doesn't expect to have all the answers.
  
• Knows the most important part of communication is listening.
  
• Doesn't laugh when a child asks a question, even in reaction to the child's cuteness.
  
• Doesn't expect to be perfect, and knows that admitting mistakes is a valuable lesson for the child.
  
• Is sometimes embarrassed by sexuality, but acknowledges the discomfort and explains it to the child.

Children are more likely to talk to an approachable parent. If you check all seven answers,
you are very askable.

Any loving care-giver—married or single, related or not—can be an effective sexuality
educator. For simplicity, we refer to all caregivers as parents.

Children learn their values by constantly watching...
the people who care for them—by seeing what you do and how you act. Children begin learning about sexuality when they are infants, and they are sensitive to a parent's silent signals. By the time children start school, they already know a lot about human sexuality, especially their own.

This website is about ways you can teach your child about sexuality. Sexuality education is not just about sex. Sexuality education includes sex, but also the roles, behaviors and values people associate with being a man or woman.

Sexuality is both physical and emotional.
You can see it in everything we do: the clothes we wear, the way we walk, the way we talk, how we show affection and in many everyday events.

Good sexuality education...
is based on the idea that loving and caring parents actively discover a child's needs for information and then find ways to fill those needs. Even adolescents in their mid-teens are still learning from you. (Yes, you can talk to your teenager about sexuality!)

Good communication...
lets you influence a child's behavior before a crisis happens. For example, many children are afraid to talk to a parent about natural body functions and whether they are "normal" or not. This fear may lead to secrecy and isol ation, which, in turn, may lead to depression, anxiety and other forms of emotional stress.

We believe that solid sexuality education from parents can delay sexual activity and avert big problems later on. Perhaps most important, we believe that good communication will help you understand your child and help you and your child become closer.

The American Social Health Association strongly believes that sexuality education begins at home and that a parent is a child's most important sexuality educator.

We feel that children need:

• A clear set of values
  
• Accurate information
  
• A strong sense of self-worth
  
• Decision-making and communication skills