Lots of Parents are That Clueless

Sex is a really big deal. And yet it rarely gets talked about in a healthy, nurturing way. Especially between parents and children. Why is that? Why is it so hard for a mom to talk to her son about sex? Why is it so awkward for a dad to discuss with his daughter about her sexuality? The topic is too important for parents to stay clueless about the sexual interests and attitudes of their children.

Here's a story from Rob Bell's book Sex God that highlights this crisis:

A man I've known for years was recently telling me about some of his challenges running a youth camp over the past year. The biggest one involved a fifteen-year-old girl. It had recently come out that she had been having sex with a man in the area. Which, among other things, go the man in trouble with the law. But when my friend and the girl's dad got involved, it turned out that she'd been having sex with, well, lots of men in the area. My friend said that as the truth began to come out, her dad was shocked. He had no idea that she was this involved with anybody, let alone with this many men.

How can a father be that clueless?

But as many of us read that last sentence, we were thinking, Lots of parents are that clueless.

Parents who don't talk with their kids about sex, ever?

Did your parents ever talk with you about sex?
How'd that talk go? Was it helpful? Awkward? Scary?
If you could make some suggestions to your parents, how would you advise them if they could do the talk over again?