Teens help keep each other on the right track. Parents can help by encouraging teens to bring their friends home. Making your home a welcoming place is good for your teens' self-esteem. As sexual feelings surface, teenagers also need to learn how to relate to the opposite sex. Teens need information about sex but parents are usually uncomfortable about discussing this subject with their children.
Research indicates that parents' attitudes have a major impact on teens' sexual behaviour.
Media items can give parents many opportunities to discuss their values in this area. There is also a lot of informative literature about sexuality that parents can share with teens. Coping with various profound changes in personality, intellect and social status can throw teens off balance. As they adjust, teenagers may behave in ways that can be disconcerting to unprepared parents. How the parents respond to this behaviour depends a lot on how they interpret it.