Part 1: Table of Contents |
Programs for Parents and their Children
When most educators envision model programs to increase
parent-child communication, they usually think of those that
involve both young people and their parents. Such programs have
obvious advantages:
- They increase the knowledge of both groups
- They can model discussions of sexual topics and increase
comfort with the discussion of sexual topics
- They can provide opportunities in the group and immediately
afterward for young people and their parents to talk about
sexual topics with each other
- They can do all of this in a comfortable climate where everyone
expects they are going to talk about sexuality and where
they see everyone else doing so
Hamrick conducted an unusual study about the impact of different
formats for family life education: adolescents only, parents only,
parents and adolescents together, parents and adolescents separately,
and parents and adolescents first separately, and then together.1
Results indicated that the formats which included parents and
adolescents together were the most effective in increasing
parent-child communication.
One of the most intensive programs of this type was developed
by the Family Guidance Center in St. Joseph, MO.2 It divided
participants into four groups by gender (father-son groups and
mother-daughter groups) and age (groups for young people nine
to 12 years of age and groups for young people 13 to 17 years
of age) and limited each group to 10 parent-child pairs.
The program included five two-hour
sessions for the younger group and
six two-hour sessions for the older
group.The first session was exclusively
for parents to give them an overview
of the course; the remaining sessions
involved both parents and their children.
The sessions included didactic material
about topics common to sexuality
education classes such as anatomy,
changes during adolescence, sexual
behavior, reproduction, contraception, teen pregnancy, and STDs.
They also included numerous small group discussions, films, and
experiential activities that facilitated parent-child communication
during the class.
For example, as an ice breaker, parents competed against their
kids in a relay race in which they had to blow up a balloon,
retrieve the coiled question inside, read the question about
sexuality, and answer it (either correctly or incorrectly).The
excitement of the race diminished their embarrassment as
they talked rapidly and generally about a range of
sexuality-related topics.
In a subsequent session, groups of two parents and their two kids
played a board game in which they rolled dice and moved around
the board toward home base while landing on blue squares
(requiring them to draw a card and answer a knowledge question)
or red squares (requiring them to draw a card and answer a
question about how they felt about some aspect of sexuality).
Another activity involved "Dear Abby" letters that described various
situations and asked for advice. Again in small groups, parents and
their own children read, answered, and discussed the letters.
This program ultimately succeeded in reaching large numbers of
families, partly due to two factors:
- Many youth-serving agencies in the county co-sponsored the
program and recruited families
- The program gained an excellent reputation over a number of
years, word spread, and parents with more than one child
repeated the program when their younger children reached
the required ages
Despite its success in reaching many families over many years, this
remained a labor-intensive effort.
Survey data were collected before the program, immediately
after the program, and approximately three to five months later.3
Results showed increases in both the frequency of parent-child
communication and comfort with that communication. These
results, however, did diminish with time.
Results also indicated that the program increased knowledge
among the youth in both the younger and older groups. Among
the older group (where they were measured), the program also
increased the clarity of personal sexual values, decreased permissive
attitudes toward having intercourse, and increased the perceived
importance of birth control.
Additional studies have also confirmed that programs that bring
adolescents and their parents together for courses on sexuality
can increase their communication about sexuality. For example,
the Let's Talk program brought together parents and youth who
were primarily Hispanic, conducted group exercises, facilitated
parent-child communication during a three-and-a-half hour workshop,
and thereby increased their communication about sexuality for at
least three months.4 In addition, the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy
Prevention Programs funded a large number of programs designed
to improve parent-child communication about sexuality. Although
many of the reports were not published, some of them indicated
that the programs increased both communication and comfort
with that communication. Other studies have produced similar
results.5
Simply bringing adolescents and parents together does not,
however, ensure greater communication about sexuality. At least
one study failed to find a significant change.6 Thus, well-designed
interactive activities such as structured mini-lectures, group activities,
and games that actually get adolescents and their parents to talk
with each other during the session(s) may prove important.
Few studies have measured the impact of these programs upon
actual sexual behavior. One that did is the Growing Together
study.7 Girls Inc. (formerly the Girls Clubs) developed and
implemented a five-session program for mothers and their
daughters. Although daughters in the program group appeared
less likely to initiate intercourse, the program and comparison
groups were probably not equivalent before the program, and
the results collected over the two years following the program
were borderline statistically significant.
In sum, most of these programs served only small numbers of
families. The Family Guidance Center ultimately served many families,
but that required many years. Other studies have confirmed the
challenges of getting parents to come to meetings or special
multi-session courses.8 Far too often, parents have practical obstacles
or simply have too little time, energy, or motivation to attend.
Yet, when these programs are properly designed and when parents
and their children do participate, their communication about sexuality
does increase, as does their comfort with that communication.
Unfortunately, that greater communication may not endure.
These programs may also have other positive effects, such as
increasing knowledge or clarifying values. It is not known, however,
if they actually reduce sexual risk-taking.
References
- M. H. Hamrick, "Parent, Adolescent FLE: An Evaluation of Five
Approaches," Family Life Educator, 1985, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 12-15.
- D. Kirby, L. Peterson, and J. Brown, "A Joint Parent-Child Sex
Education Program," Child Welfare, 1982, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 105-14.
- D. Kirby, Sexuality Education: An Evaluation of Programs and
Their Effects (Santa Cruz, CA: ETR/Network Publications, 1984).
- ETR Associates, Final Report of the Let's Talk Program Evaluation
(Scotts Valley, CA: ETR Associates, 1993).
- J. M. Benshoff and S. J. Alexander, "The Family Communication
Project: Fostering Parent-Child Communication about Sexuality,"
Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 1993, vol. 27, no. 4,
pp. 288-300; M. L. Bundy and P. N. White, "Parents as Sexuality
Educators: A Parent Training Program," Journal of Counseling and
Development, 1990, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 321-23; S. L. Caron, C. B.
Knox, C. Rhoades, J. Aho, K. K.Tulman, and M.Volock, "Sexuality
Education in the Workplace: Seminars for Parents," Journal of Sex
Education and Therapy, 1993, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 200-11; M. H. Hamrick, "Parent, Adolescent FLE: An Evaluation of Five Approaches," Family Life Educator, 1985, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 12-15
; R. L. Huston, L. J. Martin, and D. M. Foulds,
"Effect of a Program to Facilitate Parent-Child Communication
about Sex," Clinical Pediatrics, 1990, vol. 29, no. 11, pp. 626-33.
- S. R. Jorgensen,V. Potts, and B. Camp, "Project Taking Charge:
Six-Month Follow-Up of a Pregnancy Prevention Program for
Early Adolescents," Family Relations, 1993, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 401-06.
- H. J. Nicholson and L.T. Postrado, Girls Incorporated Preventing
Adolescent Pregnancy: A Program Development and Research Project
(New York: Girls Incorporated, 1991).
- D. Kirby, M. Korpi, R. Barth, and H. Cagampang, Evaluation of
Education Now and Babies Later (ENABL), Final Report (Berkeley,
CA: University of California, School of Social Welfare,1995);
K.Weeks, S. R. Levy, A. K. Gordon, A. Handler, C. Perhats, and B. R.
Flay, "Does Parental Involvement Make a Difference? The Impact
of Parent Interactive Activities on Students in a School-Based
AIDS Prevention Program," AIDS Education and Prevention, 1997,
vol. 9, pp. 90-106.
For more information, contact siecus@siecus.org.
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Web Master: siecus@siecus.org
http://www.familiesaretalking.org
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