From Diapers to Dating: A Parent's Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Children - Hardcover

Haffner, Debra W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 155704385X ISBN 13: 9781557043856

Publisher: Newmarket Pr, 1999

Synopsis

A guide to helping parents identify and communicate their won values about sexuality to their children includes a wealth of information on what to expect and how to prepare for every step of your child's life, what moments can become teachable moments, and much more. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Debra W. Haffner has been president and CEO of SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, since 1988. A sexuality educator for more than 25 years, she is a Fellow of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and has a Masters in Public Health from the Yale University School of Medicine. She and husband, Ralph Tartaglione, are parents of a 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa (whom Newmarket editors invited to contribute a foreword to her mother's book) and a 5-year-old son, Gregory.

Reviews

Much needed help for floundering parentsa clear-eyed assist with deciding what sexual values to impart to children, and then advice on coupling those values with accurate, age-appropriate information. Haffner, a long-time sex educator and president of the Sexualtiy Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS), has a 13-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, so her advice is above all reality-based. She has a good handle on the practical basics of having a sexually healthy family: first and foremost, parents must be clear on their own values (discussion questions and questionaires here help readers work this out), and the lines of communication between parents and children must be kept wide open (yes, it's a lot of work, and again, there is practical help offered here). Haffner goes on to address the ever-shifting issues by age group birth to 2 years, 2-to-5-year-old preschoolers, ages 5-to-8 and then 9-to-12-year-olds. There is a lot to think about here, and Haffner pulls no punches: ``I do not believe that children can protect themselves from sexual abuse,'' she says. Prevention programs such as ``Good touch, bad touch,'' and ``No, Go, Tell'' ``are based on the assumption that the child has the social or physical power to stop an adult pedophile's actions, something that is unlikely to be true.'' Realistic, practical, and informativethe best kind of guide for being a better parent. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

An excellent guide covering children's and teens' sexuality issues. Haffner (president, Sexuality, Information and Education Council of the United States) has been in the forefront of sexuality education for over a decade. Here, she travels through the stages of a child's life, outlining sexual development, needs, issues, and problems. All people are sexual, she states, even preschoolers, and all approaches to understanding sexuality are based on some kind of value system; parents must understand their own values in order to be clear and consistent with their kids. Haffner's message is practical and frank, both forward-looking and nonpermissive. She encourages parents to seize opportunities for conversations about sex in small moments, from the time the kids are preschoolers, and discourages reliance on The Big Talk, which often comes too late. Middle-schoolers, she argues, should not "date"; the TV does not belong in a child's bedroom; abstinence is the rule for any pre-teen; and parents must know the benefits and risks of the net. A bibliography of books, videos, and association hotlines is included. Essential for all public libraries.ALinda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, PA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Newmarket Pr
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 155704385X
• ISBN 13: 9781557043856
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 228