How to Talk Sex With Your Teens

ByABC News
March 9, 2006, 7:05 PM

— -- "Do not videotape yourself naked and post it on the Internet" is not a message most parents believe they need to deliver to their teenagers. But a chat with any high school student, or an Internet search, will prove that teenage video voyeurism happens in all kinds of communities across America.

It's every parent's worst-case-scenario nighmare: a teenager makes the wrong decision and lives are forever changed -- for the worse. The choices about sex that face teens today -- from group hookups to Web-based relationships -- are increasingly ones their parents can't imagine.

Parents can't be with their teenagers every waking moment and can't possibly anticipate every situation they will encounter. But there are ways to help protect them from making that One Big Mistake that can destroy their lives. Here are three suggestions -- I call them Real-Truth Conversation Starters that will help teenagers start to think in a different way so they act smart and stay safe.