Going Beyond 'The Talk': Relationships and Sexuality Education for those Supporting 12 -18 year olds

Drawing on extensive professional and personal experience, this book offers guidance and advice on how to better communicate with 12-18-year olds about relationships and sexuality. An invaluable resource for teachers and parents, it provides you with the tools you need to feel confident and informed about how to talk about sex education at all stages. The book explores the challenges in adult-child communication about sexuality and provides helpful advice on how to establish an open and positive dialogue, covering topics like social media, porn and sexual development in UK, US and Australian contexts. Specific age-based guidance and exercises are also offered. Finally, the book ends with the Flag System for identifying 'acceptable/nonacceptable' sexual behaviour and next steps. Throughout, the book emphasizes the importance of positive sexuality education, empowering young people to make their own choices on how to enjoy their relationships and sexuality in a safe and consensual way.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Being in touch 2. Challenges and opportunities in discussing sexuality with adolescents 3. Communicating with adolescents about sex and sexuality 4. Towards a better understanding of our teenagers: Body, Brains and Sex 5. The sexual lives of adolescents 6. Early Adolescence (12-14+ years): What adults want to know 7. Mid-Adolescence (14-16+ years): What adults want to know 8. Late Adolescence (16-18+ years): What adults want to know 9. "Is this OK?" 10.Moving forward

About the Author :
Sanderijn van der Doef is a Dutch psychologist, sexologist, trainer and author of best-selling books internationally. She is an international expert and leading authority in the field of sexual health and sexuality education. Clare Bennett researches parent-child sexuality communication and is a senior lecturer at Cardiff University in Wales. She is also a nurse, with a background in sexual health and has extensive experience in working with children and their parents. Arris Lueks has many years teaching experience and specializes in educating trainee primary school teachers in how to facilitate young children's learning about relationships and sexuality in the Netherlands.

Review :
Puberty is a crucial time in a young person's life. Preparing children for puberty is different from talking with small children about where babies come from. Fortunately this book supports you during this phase of young people's lives. 'Going beyond "The Talk"' shows how you to have an honest and open conversation about sex and sexuality at home and in school. It gives relevant facts and gives advice to overcome your embarrassment to talk about the most intimate and sensitive issues around sex. I highly recommend it! The life raft that helps you navigate the choppy seas of sex(uality) education for adolescents and how to talk to them about it. Thank you for giving me the understanding, insight and tools to provide the right support. I only wish my parents had read it! This warm, hopeful, evidence-based guide is filled with wisdom and has inclusivity at its heart. It is a must read for all adults wishing to communicate with their teenagers about relationships, sexuality, identity, and values like never before. It will challenge you and affirm you in equal measure. This book is an eminently readable resource for anyone caring for a teenager. It gives a very clear picture of teenage development, which helps understand our own biases and how to overcome these so that our teenagers get the love, support and understanding they need. A highly engaging book exploring relationships, consent, respect, sexuality and identity in an accessible way. It brings together the informal learning of the home and the formal learning of schooling to provide a coherent, inclusive and joined up approach to young people's development. This is a unique book which successfully unifies sexuality education in school and at home. It is a practical tool for an intergenerational dialogue and addressing serious questions raised by young people. The parents and educators will find here the right words and approaches to support young people in staying safe and achieving well-being. But most of all, the reader of this book will feel the joy of sexuality education classes.