Parents play an important role in educating their children about relationships and sexual health. Irish and international research has found that when there is open communication between parents and teenagers about relationships and sex, it can increase the likelihood that the teenager will wait until they are 17 or older to have sex for the first time.

The HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme has produced a number of resources to assist parents in providing relationships and sex education to their children. These resources have been designed to provide age appropriate information to children aged 10-17 years old.

These resources are available free of charge to parents.

Resource for parents of 10-14 year olds  - 'Busy Bodies'

Resource for parents of 11-15 year olds  - ‘You can talk to me’

Free Supplement for Parents of older teenagers  - 'Resources for Parents older teenagers'
Resources for parents of older teenagers   - 'The Facts'

Busy Bodies Adolescent Development Programme provides information on the physical and emotional changes that children may experience during puberty, to reassure them that puberty is a normal part of growing up.  Busy Bodies is a useful resource to help support both teachers and parents in providing information on puberty to children aged between 10 and 14.

Busy Bodies was developed to support the teaching of the 5th and 6th class component of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) within the context of Social Personal and Health Education. Itwas produced by the Health Service Executive South working in partnership with the RSE Support Service, the National Parents Council (Primary) and the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme.

Click here to download a copy of the booklet.

To order a copy of the Booklet and DVD, FreeText BUSY plus your name and address to 50444. Schools can order bulk copies of the booklet and DVD free of charge, through www.healthpromotion.ie.

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Free DVD and Booklet for Parents of 11-15 year olds - 'You can talk to me'

A free DVD ‘You can talk to me’ and booklet was developed to help parents talk to their 11 to 15 years olds about sexual health and relationships.
Research findings from the Irish Study of Sexual Health and Relationships (ISSHR) show that 92% of people think that young people should get sex education on sexual intercourse, sexual feelings, contraception, safer sex, STIs and homosexuality. However, only 21% of men and 38% of women under 25 have received sex education in the home. Among under-25s, nearly two-thirds of men and almost half of women did not find it easy to talk to their parents about sex.

In the DVD, parents and teenagers are interviewed about talking to each other about sex and relationships. Dr Marie Murray and Dr Tony Bates give their tips to parents on starting a conversation about sex and relationships with their child.

To order a DVD and booklet, FreeText PARENT plus your name and address to 50444.

Download Excerpts from the DVD:You can talk to me (5.44mb)
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Free Supplement for Parents of older teenagers - ‘Parents, Tips for Talking to Older Teenagers’



The Crisis Pregnancy Programme has developed a new supplement – ‘Parents, Tips for Talking to Older Teenagers’ that was developed to help parents of older adolescents in talking to teenage children about relationships and sex by providing practical tips on communication and other relevant information.

Click here to download a copy of the supplement.

To order a copy of the supplement, FreeText TALK plus your name and address to 50444.

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Free DVD for Parents of older teenagers - 'The Facts'



‘The Facts’ was produced to help parents, teachers and youth workers to provide sex education to young people. It contains information on contraception (including a condom demonstration), STIs, crisis pregnancy and fertility.

To order a free copy of the DVD and booklet, email info@crisispregnancy.ie or call 01 814 62 92.

Download excerpts from the pdf:

Download excerpts from the DVD:

Section 1	Fertility
Section 2	Methods of Contraception
Section 3	Condom Demonstration
Section 4	Crisis Pregnancy
Section 5	Sexually Transmitted Infections
All sections	The Facts full length video

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Research Summary for Parents on Teenage Sexuality

The Crisis Pregnancy Programme has developed a range of leaflets designed to bring its latest research findings to key audiences in a concise, easy-to-read format.

The first research summary is on teenage sexuality, and is developed for parents and people working with young people. Listening to the views and the experiences of teenagers is essential to the work of the Crisis Pregnancy Programme. The Crisis Pregnancy Programme's research reports on teenagers and sexuality in Ireland describe what teenagers in Ireland are saying about relationships, learning about sex, and the influence of television.

We hope this summary of research findings will provoke thought, discussion and interest among parents and those who work with young people.

Download the Research Summary for Parents on Teenage Sexuality

Training for Parents – National Parents Council Primary

Parenting – Supporting your child to build healthy friendships and relationships
The overall aim of this programme is to help parents or guardians in their role in parenting their children to have healthy friendships and relationships at home and in their personal lives. The programme informs parents or guardians on what is taught in relationships and sexuality education (RSE) and the approach that is used by the teacher. It enables parents to have a clear understanding of the content of the RSE part of the Social Personal Health Education (SPHE) curriculum. For more information or to register for this training please contact the Training and Development Section Tel: 01 8874475/01 8874481 or email: training@npc.ie. To download an application form, see the NPC website www.npc.ie