36 - The Real Care Baby Project and Sex Education

Host: Dr. Tara Egan
Co-host: Anna, teen

Tara and Anna are back once again with a great episode discussing "The Real Care Baby Project" and Sex Education. For her Child Development class, Anna did a project where she had to bring home a " Real Care Baby" for the weekend and take care of it as if it was an actual baby. Listen in as Anna and Tara both share the humorous and educational experience of having this "Real Care Baby" all weekend. Anna may have ended up in tears once and even brother Dylan got in on the fun!

Listen is as we discuss:

- What is the Real Care Baby Project?
(This experience is much more than an immersion project, it is birth control!)

 - Anna's experience taking the baby to the gas station and having to fill up!
 - How Anna felt about the project and her thoughts of parenting.
- How Grandma Tara forgot she was watching the baby for a moment and the many laughs she had throughout the weekend of watching Anna taking care of the baby.

The second portion of the show they talk about teen pregnancy and high school students.

You will learn that teen sex has decreased in the past few years, however teen pregnancy in black and Latino high school students has not decreased at all, and why that may be.

How even though teens are healthy and strong, the fact is, teen moms are  more likely babies with  low birth rate, born pre-term, and with complicating health condition according WHO.

Factors that reduce teen pregnancy rates:

1) If teens are exposed to clearly presented fact based sex education free of messages of shame.

 Note: sex education varies state by state, can't say the word condom in some states, abstinence is the only approach taught. The messages kids receive from parents in the home environment varies as well.

2) Access to low cost contraception, specifically long acting reversible contraception, like IUD or implant - has  better efficacy and lower risk for error.

Anna shares her perspective about sex education in school and how they taught the information.

 Tara shares some tips for parents about talking to their kids about sex, dispelling the notion that if they talk they about sex, kids will be more likely to be sexually active. In reality, studies have shown that it actually delays start of sexual relationships.

Learn more about Dr. Tara Egan's therapy services RIGHT HERE.

To learn more about Dr. Egan's online mini-course called "Managing Your Family's Technology and Social Media", created to help parents eliminate power struggles, keep your family safe from internet misuse, and reconnect with your family, please click RIGHT HERE.

Learn more about Dr. Tara Egan's books, webinars, public speaking opportunities, and coaching/consultation services RIGHT HERE.

If you'd like to join our weekly FREE parenting webinar, register HERE via zoom. Once registered, you can access all the prior webinars from our YouTube channel.

Join our private FB group for parents of high school students RIGHT HERE.

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