I'm sitting watching the Rosie Perez special on ABC about teenagers and sex. The show has gotten a fair amount of press because it's supposed to cut new ground in terms of talking straight to teens about sex. Perez, or one of the show's producers, has said that if we're not willing to talk to kids about sex on their own terms, we're not going to get through to them in terms of sex education. This, of course, makes sense.
Teenagers know the difference between honest talk and bullshit.
The problem with the way most adults talk to teens about sex is that adults are generally too embarrassed about sex to talk about the real stuff at all. Adults need to get past whatever sexual embarrassment they feel if they want to be able to be taken seriously when they talk about sex with teenagers. The Rosie Perez special claims that it will not be afraid to talk about sex for real. It will show condoms on the air. That in itself sounds like a breakthrough.