Talking to Your Kids About Sex
COLLINS: OK. So this is a big one. When is the right time to talk to your kids about sex? A new study suggests many parents are bringing it up too late after their children have already had sex. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, having an eight-year-old, I can barely even talk about this. Joining us now with some more details of this study. OK. Tell us first about the study and then we'll go from there.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the study, they polled kids. And they talked to parents and they tried to figure out when are parents having this discussion. And so what they found out is that many parents are having a discussion about sex too late. Meaning after the child has had sex, which is too late. So let's take a look at the major finding from this study. What they found is that 40 percent of kids were having sex without having first spoken to their parents about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases. Obviously, two topics that you want to cover before your child starts having sex.</s>COLLINS: But is there any information about whether or not they're having sex without using birth control.</s>COHEN: That's a good question. I don't think they looked at that. What they found is that they were having sex without having had this discussion with their parents. Now maybe they had had the discussion in sex-ed class. Maybe they'd had the discussion other places. But many studies show that the best place for kids to get information is from their parents. They take it in better. They listen to it better.</s>COLLINS: Yes. I'm so hesitating on asking this next question. But it's important to know, on average, according to this study, how early are kids having sex?</s>COHEN: It is scary. As a parent, you are not going to like the answer, Heidi. No parent likes this answer. You got to know. You have to know. According to the authors of this study, kids, one-third of all ninth graders are having sexual intercourse. That's one-third of ninth graders. Ninth graders are about 14, 15 years old. And half of tenth graders have already had sexual intercourse. So in other words, if you wait until they're, like, 15 to have a discussion about having sex, it's too late.</s>COLLINS: And so, if you home school your child and lock them in the closet for every other portion of the day, that helps, or there's nothing in the study about that?</s>COHEN: I haven't seen a locking in the closet study. But if I do, I'll let you know.</s>COLLINS: Oh, lord. So then I guess the question would be if parents have the sex talk, does it even work or would we see these numbers be different?</s>COHEN: Well, we asked the researchers when parents do it right and they have that sex talk, does it mean that kids are delaying having sex? And they said, you know, we didn't look at that. We can't answer it. But what they do know is that when parents have that sex discussion with their kids, their kids are more likely to use birth control when they do have sex and are more likely to have safe sex, in other words sex where they're preventing sexually transmitted diseases. So if you have that talk with your kid, it may or may not delay sex, I supposed it depends on what message you give them but it will increase the chances that they'll have safe sex and use birth control.</s>COLLINS: All right. Thanks, Elizabeth.</s>COHEN: It's not easy.</s>COLLINS: Not easy at all. All right. We'll talk again. Thank you. Iran's students day had little to do with the current youth population and a lot to do with the regime many of those young people resent. Why so many are so angry during a national observance there.