341
October 5, 2007

How to Talk to Kids

Stories of adults taking very different approaches to communicating with children.

Prologue

Host Ira Glass asks fifth-grade kids to explain what adults do wrong when talking to children. (5 minutes)
Act Two

Age Of Consent

Ira talks to the teen editors of Sex, Etc., a national magazine for teenagers, about the mistakes parents make when talking—or not talking—to their kids about sex. Then, the story of what happened when one anonymous mother learned that her daughter was having sex. All the names in this essay have been changed, and it's read on the air by producer Julie Snyder. (19 minutes)

Sex, Etc. is published by Answer, a sex education organization based at Rutgers University.

Song:

“Trust Your Child” by Patrizia & Jimmy
Act Three

Use Your Words

Dan Savage makes the case for yelling at children. He also reflects on how his views on how to talk to kids have changed over the years. (10 minutes)

Dan is the host of the "Savage Love" Podcast.