Skip to content

South Okanagan parents get the scoop on sex talk

Help is coming for parents getting ready for those awkward but obligatory conversations about sexual health.

Help is coming for parents getting ready for those awkward but obligatory conversations about sexual health.

Penticton Options for Sexual Health and Interior Health have invited the director of education at Options for Sexual Health Kristen Gilbert to present two seminars titled Let’s Talk About Sex.

The first – the Askable Adult – is for parents and guardians with children approaching the age of curiosity. It will be held on May 12 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Shatford Centre.

“Kristen is an excellent speaker with a wide variety of experience,” said Adelle Jones, public health nurse with Penticton Health Centre who helped to organize the events. “It’s learning how to use the right language, how to handle the questions, how to discuss feelings and family values.”

For teachers and educators, Gilbert will be instructing CAVE on May 13 between 9 a.m. and noon at the Shatford, which will instruct professionals on how to communicate the tough topics.

The programs are to fill a void created by the subject’s taboo.

“For the most part, parents are of the generation in Canada where people didn’t get great, or sometimes any sex education at all,” Gilbert said. “We take a whole family approach when we want to support people with their sexual health.”

She said that its her job to teach the science of sex, and it’s the parents’ job to teach values.

“I want to empower those parents and guardians in ways that work for their families,” she said. “Opening up that conversation takes practice, knowledge, and skills. So that’s what we build in the Askable Adult program – its a program designed specifically for them.”

During the program, Gilbert holds an interactive discussion with the audience to reflect on the weak sexual education many adults experienced when they were in school, and debunks lingering myths.

“It serves a big need for the generation of parents we have in Canada.”

Because of the comprehensive level of education being instructed today Gilbert doesn’t think these seminars will be needed 20 years from now in Canada.

One topic that receives more consideration than it used to, she said, is consent.

Growing up as a teenager in the mid-1980s, Gilbert said the concept wasn’t well-defined .

“It wasn’t something we spent a lot of time thinking about,” she said. “But now we can be really articulate about consent now, and be supportive and helpful about what that means.”

The idea of teen pregnancy and STIs can make sexual programming seem scary, but Gilbert said there is no fear mongering.

“It’s really positive and supporting, and we have some really reassuring statistics about how well things are going in terms of sexual health for young people in Canada these days.”

But those positive statistics don’t make the news headlines, she said.

“It can truly change someones perspective on how to connect with the young people in our lives and why that’s important.”

Workshops cost $10 each at the door. Organizers ask that participants RSVP by emailing penticton.opt@gmail.com.