Welcome to our blog post, specially crafted to provide sex education information tailored specifically to your thirteen year old! We completely understand that delving into the realm of sex education can feel overwhelming, especially when trying to find content that is relevant to your child’s current age and stage of development.
But don’t worry! This guide is here to assist you in finding the most appropriate information for your child right now. We’ve carefully selected a range of blog posts and resources that focus on initiating sex education conversations with thirteen year olds, ensuring that the content suits their needs perfectly.
Every child is unique, but they all go through general stages of development. The resources we have curated will empower you to support your child as they navigate their way through the teenage years in a manner that aligns with your values.
Ah, welcome to the thrilling teenage years! Thirteen is an age where some young teens may start looking more like adults than children (though their emotional maturity might not match up just yet). On the other hand, some may still resemble children in appearance. These are crucial years for having conversations about sex education, particularly as they begin experiencing crushes and developing romantic feelings towards others. So, if your child is 13 years old, the information below will be highly relevant for initiating (or continuing) their sex education journey.
And guess what? As you celebrate their fourteenth birthday 🎂 , we’re here to provide you with sex education information suitable for fourteen year olds too!
So let’s dive right in together and embark on this exciting journey!
Unsure of what sex education is all about?
Watch Back to Basics my FREE webinar that will tell you what sex ed is, why you need to do it, what might stop you from talking, what to talk about and how to get started.
A 12 minute read on what sex education is all about.
Watch this Parent Masterclass to learn what to expect and how to develop key skills in sex education.
Got some last-minute doubts about sex education?
Read this blogpost as it will address your fears about sex education.
Read this blogpost as it explains the benefits of sex education, and how these conversations will empower and protect your child (instead of harm them).
And if you’re worried that you’ve left it too late to start? Then relax, as you haven’t. As now is better than never. But you are going to have to work harder, as you will need to reestablish their trust and get them used to you suddenly wanting to talk about love, sex and relationships.
Missed out on sex education yourself? Or already forgotten what you were taught at school?
Watch this Parent Masterclass as it’s the Adult Edition of Sex Ed and is a refresher for modern parents.
Unsure of what sexual behaviour to expect in your teen? And what’s normal?
Read this blogpost about healthy sexual development in children and the different behaviours you might see in your 13 year old.
Watch this Parent Masterclass to learn how to understand and support healthy sexual development in your teen.
Unsure of what sexual values and beliefs to share with your 13 year old?
Read this blogpost to learn how to talk to teens about sexual values and beliefs.
Use this WorkBook to help you decide which sexual values are relevant and what you could share with your teen now.
Unsure of what to talk about with your 13 year old?
Read this blogpost as it explains some of the different topics you can talk about with your teen.
Grab my parent guide about the many different conversations you may have with your child about penises and vulvas, including hygiene, diversity in genitals, erections, masturbation, nudity and puberty.
Read this blogpost to find simple ways to talk to your teen about consent.
Grappling with consent? Learn how to educate your child about giving – and asking for – consent in this popular crash course about consent.
Read this blogpost to learn how to navigate gender in an inclusive way.
Read this blogpost to learn how to care for a penis and a foreskin.
Unsure of how to talk about masturbation?
Read this blogpost to learn the basics of child masturbation (information is included about teens).
Watch this Parent Masterclass to gain a better understanding of why your teen might be masturbating, and how to respond.
Unsure of how to respond when your teen is curious about diversity in genitals?
Curiosity about the differences between penises and vulvas is common (as they worry that theirs aren’t ‘normal’), so here’s my resource list about diversity in genitals.
If you don’t want to show them real-life photos, then you may like my anatomically correct cartoon illustrations as they include body walls of both adult and child genitals and bodies. I hope to have some more lifelike illustrations available in 2024.
Watch this Parent Masterclass on how to respond when teens are curious about genitals.
Need help explaining sex?
If you are struggling to get started, then you’ll want this Parent Masterclass on how to explain sex (for the very first time)! It is specially designed to help you get started with this tricky conversation!
Unsure of how to talk about puberty?
Look at my Puberty 101 information page as it has everything you need to know about puberty.
Grab my Parents’ Guide to Puberty as it will help you get started with understanding and supporting your teen as they go through puberty.
These are the 10 best puberty books and are the books I always seem to be recommending to parents. This is the list to refer to if you find the following lists overwhelming!
Looking for a puberty book that is written specifically for your daughter (or a child with ovaries)? This list sorts the puberty books for girls into the books that do and don’t talk about sex.
Looking for a puberty book that is specifically written for your son (or a child with testicles)? This list sorts the puberty books for boys into the books that do and don’t talk about sex, as well as whether intact and/or circumcised penises are shown.
Looking for a puberty book that is inclusive for LGBTQIA+ children? Then this is the list of inclusive sex ed and puberty books.
This is a list of puberty books for 13 year olds sorted into books written for boys, girls and ALL children.
Need to talk about periods?
Look at my Puberty 101 information page as it has everything you need to know about periods.
Looking for a period tracker app that is safe and designed for tweens and teens? This is an inclusive, non-gendered period tracking app that includes educational content written by me, and avoids the privacy issues in period apps that were highlighted by Roe Vs. Wade in the USA. You can find the Tempus – Teen Period Tracker at the App Store or the Google Play Store.
Unsure about whether a first period is on it’s way? Complete my First Period Quiz to learn whether it’ll be sooner (or later).
Looking for a book that is mainly about periods? This list contains the period books that have been written for kids. The most comprehensive and cost effective option is the Tempus Period Tracker app (as it includes over 300 age-appropriate Q&A).
Got a teen who has already seen online porn? Or is regularly viewing it?
Grab my Parent Masterclass on what to do when your teen has seen porn as it will walk you through what to do.
Start talking to your child about online porn in an age-appropriate way that helps them to make smart decisions with the Porn Talk Course.
Keep your devices safe for your child by doing a step-by-step check on every device in your house with this Tech Check Workbook.
Look at my Pornography 101 page to learn more about how to protect your teen from online porn, including information about parental controls and sexting.
Unsure of how to start sex-ed conversations? Or the different ways to have a conversation?
Here are all the blogposts that explain the different sex education strategies for starting conversations with your teen.
Got a teen who is asking questions and you don’t know how to answer them?
Read this blogpost to learn why it is important to answer sex-ed questions from kids.
Grab my popular Sex Ed Answer Book that gives you age-specific answers to the most common questions kids ask parents (about sex).
Got a child who is uninterested in talking with you about love, sex and relationships?
Read this blogpost as it will give you some tips on what to do when they’re not interested, plus it will inspire you to not give up!
Worried about something your child is doing?
Look at this page as it has over 30 of the most common concerns parents have about their kids that are relevant to sex education.
Watch this Parent Masterclass on what to do when you are worried about sexual behaviour in your child.
Unsure of what books to read? Or videos to watch?
Read this blogpost to find sex education books that are suitable for 13 year olds.
My favourite ten best sex education books that includes books that are important now!
My sex education video resources page.
Wishing you had a community of like-minded parents who won’t think you are weird for wanting to do sex education?
Join that parent group. My free Facebook group where parents help each other with sex education!
Anyway, that should get you started with teaching your child about sex in a non-awkward, shame-free and natural way! And this is where you can find the other age-by-age sex education guides.
