Free When Good Kids Have Sex by Katherine Gordy Levine

When Good Kids Have Sex
Katherine Gordy Levine
    So where are you on this gamut? Denial? Preaching abstinence only? Arranging sex
     talks with your kid's doctor? Letting the kids do their thing in your home? What
     about gay or lesbian sex? Then there are cross-dressing and trans-gender issues.
     What can parents do to keep their good kids safe sexually? Read on.
    Copyright © 2012 by Katherine Gordy Levine
Published by MetaPlume Corporation
    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
     system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
     recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author or publisher.
    This book is an adapted chapter from When
     Good Kids Do Bad Things - A Survival Guide for Parents of Teenagers. This is
     volume 7 of the When Good Kids Do Bad Things series.

Table of Contents
    Liaisons - Dangerous and Otherwise
Double Messages
What Parents Can Do
Sex Talk
Irresponsible Sex: Dangers
Keep the Door Open
Same-Sex Love
Also By Katherine Gordy Levine

Liaisons - Dangerous and Otherwise
    When it comes to the earth-moving power of sex, your power as a parent is inherently
     fragile. Consider, if you will, selected scenes from your own adolescence.
    For David (my husband) and me, the foster-child years (12 years and almost 400 teens)
     brought the virginal, the non-virginal, and the promiscuous. Much of our vigilance
     was devoted to preventing sexually active teenagers from making babies or acquiring
     sexually transmitted diseases. After only two months of this intense worrying, however,
     we learned the first of many, many lessons about the limits of our control.
It Only Takes a Minute
    Blond, beautiful Michelle, fourteen, was our teacher. Shoo-in for the Levine Spoiled
     Brat of the Year Award, she was self-centered, boring, hypercritical, and obsessed
     with her looks. Imagine the young Marilyn Monroe with the handicap of growing up
     rich and pampered. She was not easy to like.
    Nevertheless, as you might expect, the boys in the house forgave her personality
     flaws. Though she seemed indifferent and mattered on incessantly about her mature
     boyfriends, they did not give up the chase.
    One day, I made a surprising discovery. The house was sparkling and the kids were
     on their best behavior for our annual Levine Open House, attended by lots of social
     workers, community people, and officials. In the midst of the festivities, Michelle
     suddenly came over and nervously pulled me aside.
    "Kathy, you have to get me an appointment with Planned Parenthood. You have to do
     it right now."
    "Good grief, Michelle, there are fifty people crawling all over the house and garden.
     If you're pregnant, why didn't you tell me yesterday or the day before? Why right
     now? You're just going to have to wait. I'll make a doctor's appointment tomorrow."
    "You don't understand, Kathy. Sammy and I just had sex. Now I feel sick, and I'm
     sure I'm pregnant. I want an abortion, and I want it today."
    With more than a hint of exasperation, I replied, "Michelle, you and Sammy were
     helping in the kitchen only five minutes ago. And now you tell me you just had sex?"
    "Do you think I'd lie about this? We went into the pantry and did it standing up.
     It never takes more than a few minutes, you know. We stood against the door so no
     one could come in. Now I feel sick to my stomach, and I better get a test right
     away, or I'll tell all these people what happened."
    The blackmail didn't work. I convinced Michelle that the feeling in her stomach
     probably came from an overdose of chocolate cake and soda. As it turned out, she
     wasn't pregnant, although she was inspired to go to Planned Parenthood and get herself
     some birth control pills.
    But the important lesson for the Levines was that scene in the pantry. Lesson One:
     "It" only takes a minute. Parents who think they know where their kids are and what
     their kids are