Prying the Air-tight Lid: Getting Teens to Open Up

She recommends a trusted person who can be honest, give good, realistic responses, and connect the teen to resources like Planned Parenthood. Whether the child is shy or not, she refers to these conversations as “planting seeds” with your teen: let him know he can talk to you or someone else, and he’ll probably approach you when he needs more information. However, “If you suspect he’s already sexually active, you might want to kick it up a notch,” Kathy adds. You can have a conversation in a safe, comfortable environment, or take him to a sex education class.