Based on the findings of a new study, parents are being trained on how to talk to their teenage children about sex. The study, which was published online in British Medical Journal, found parents were at sea about how to talk to their teens about subjects like sexually transmitted diseases, condoms, and unwanted pregnancies.

According to Dr. Mark A. Schuster, lead researcher of the study and chief of general pediatrics and vice chairman for health policy research at Children's Hospital Boston, "Parents are desperate for advice on how to talk with their kids about sex, they know it's important, but their own parents didn't talk with them, so they don't know where to begin."

The study evaluated an eight week-hour long workshop based program called “Talking Parents, Healthy Teens”, of parents of 6th to 10th graders. The parents were taught role playing and other interactive ways to start and sustain conversations with their teens on sex in normal everyday situations. An important part of the instruction also involved teaching parents how to listen to their children without interrupting or passing judgments as well as how to refuse unwanted sexual advances.

"The great thing was that the parents really learned," said Dr.Schuster, in a news release issued by the hospital. "We'd teach them some skills one week, and they'd come back the next week, bubbling over with excitement that they'd talked with their teen about relationships, love or sex, and this was the best part: Their teen had actually engaged in a real conversation with them, or role-played a topic like how to say no to unwanted sexual advances."

In surveys done post program participants reported increased conversations with their teens particularly on topics such as sex. "Many employers provide programs to help employees lose weight or stop smoking," Schuster said. "We wanted to see if we could apply worksite health promotion principles to help parents address their kids' sexual health. It turned out that employers loved the idea.”