The tips below are activities, tools, and resources my husband used with our sons to further encourage the truths found in Conversation #3. Feel free to pass them along to your husband and in turn, if he has something valuable to add to the list, please comment and share the idea with the rest of our 5 Conversations blog community. I addition, click here to check out valuable tips for having Conversation #3 across the age ranges on the “Moms of Daughters” portion of the blog.
Dad:2:Dad tips (by Keith Courtney)
Activities/resources I used to teach principles of sexual purity:
- Took each boy on a weekend trip when each turned 13 years old. The purpose was to listen to Preparing for Adolescence tapes, encourage them to make wise decisions regarding sexual purity as they move into their teen years, and have fun doing planned father/son activities.
- Regularly and consistently took advantage of teachable moments as they occurred when our sons were inadvertently exposed to messages about sex that run contrary to God’s standards.
- Took the initiative to talk to my sons about sex and clear up any misinformation they may had been exposed to through classmates and the media. I made sure they knew I was a safe place to come when they had questions and that no question was off limits.
- Each of our sons took part in a “Preparing for Adolescence” weekend retreat sponsored by our home church when they were in the 6th grade
I mentioned these books in the Dad:2:Dad tips for Conversation #2, but they also reinforce many of the truths discussed in Conversation 3.
Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children by: M.D. Joe S. McIlhaney Jr and M.D. Freda McKissic Bush
Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain by: William M. Struthers
I highly recommend a wonderful series which helps parents teach kids about God’s design for our sexuality. The main book, How and When to Tell Your Kids About Sex (Stanton and Brenna Jones), and the four accompanying books, The Story of Me (ages 3 – 5), Before I Was Born (ages 5 – 8), What’s the Big Deal (ages 8 – 11), and Facing the Facts (ages 11 – 14), are excellent, age appropriate ways to talk to your kids about the birds and the bees and all the sexual dysfunction in our culture (pornography and homosexuality included). The focus for the entire series is that sex in the right context (marriage) is God’s plan for us; outside of this plan lies trouble. I have 6 children and have been using it since the oldest was 5. At the age of almost 16, my daughter intends to keep this gift for her wedding night. My oldest boy, age 11, understands that sex isn’t something for public discussion and, while it’s not his favorite subject (yet) he wants it to be for his wife.