Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Life Unexpected Tackles "The Talk"

Who has been watching Life Unexpected on the CW?  It is now one of my favorite shows.  Here is a brief overview to get you up to speed.

After spending her life bouncing from one foster family to another, 15-year-old Lux has decided to become an emancipated minor. Her journey through the legal maze leads Lux to her biological father, 30-something Nate "Baze" Bazile, who lives like an aging frat-boy and is astonished to learn he has a daughter. Lux is equally astonished to learn that her mother is Cate Cassidy, a star on local radio. When a judge grants temporary custody of Lux to Baze and Cate, they agree to make a belated attempt to give Lux the family she deserves.

As you can tell by doing a little subtraction, Lux is the child of teen parents who gave her up for adoption at birth.  In the first few episodes they have been navigating murky waters to figure out their situation and how to proceed from here.  To date, Lux is living with her father, who on last night's episode sat her down to have "The Talk".  Come to find out, he was too late - Lux was already sexually experienced.

The awkward conversation that was had by the two of them ended with Lux telling Baze that she hadn't had sex with her winter formal date nor did she plan on having sex with her winter formal date.  Baze literally clapped his hands and said "Great, good talk."

Now how often do we hear about "The Talk" playing out in this manner?  There are a couple of things to note.  First of all, there shouldn't be just one talk.  It shouldn't be this big bad conversation that has to take place to make the adult feel better.  Instead, caring adults should look for teachable moments - moments in life that can be used as conversation starters about love, sex and relationships.  As Baze found out, when you wait around to have "The Talk" sometimes you are too late.  Conversations about these topics should start early and be consistent.

Visit our Parent Portal to hear from other parents and read tips for talking with your young person about love, sex and relationships.

by: Cayci Banks, Director of Communications, SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
contact Cayci: cbanks@teenpregnancysc.org

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