Al Vernacchio – författare

“A breath of much-needed fresh air around a very charged subject.”—Christiane Northrup, M.D., OB/GYN physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause

“Vernacchio's no-blame, no-shame approach will inspire parents to drop their fears, judgments, and inhibitions in order to help their kids navigate the teen years.”—Publishers Weekly

Updated to reflect societal changes over the past decade, an experienced educator’s effective and responsible guide to sex education for parents and teens that promotes healthy knowledge, values, and positive sexuality.

When it comes to talking to kids about sex, parents often don’t know what to say. But our kids are talking—and seeing and listening and learning—about sex every day. Our kids know more about sex than we think they do. But our kids don’t know as much about sex as they think they do.

Complicating matters, sexuality education in schools is often locally regulated, leading to medically inaccurate or faith- and abstinence-based curriculums, and in a growing number of states even that meager education is under threat. Enter sexuality educator Al Vernacchio, a teacher for more than thirty years, who has been an advocate of a new category: sex-positive education. In For Goodness Sex, he offers a realistic approach to teaching kids about this basic biological function, with advice and answers that go far beyond just the act itself. After all, Vernacchio argues, without a broader understanding to offset the damaging perceptions of sex that pervade much of our culture, adolescents and teens are unprepared for the complex intellectual and emotional decisions surrounding sex and consent.

Thoughtful and expansive, For Goodness Sex offers the tools and information adults and young people need to have important conversations about sexuality and to develop the safe and healthy values that will carry them through the rest of their lives.

“A breath of much-needed fresh air around a very charged subject.”—Christiane Northrup, M.D., OB/GYN physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers Women''s Bodies, Women''s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause

“Vernacchio''s no-blame, no-shame approach will inspire parents to drop their fears, judgments, and inhibitions in order to help their kids navigate the teen years.”—Publishers Weekly

A progressive approach to sexuality education that challenges commonly-held beliefs about how we talk to young people about sex and offers a controversial yet proven alternative to the standard conversations taking place in schools and homes across America.

Sex education today generally falls into one of two categories: abstinence-only or abstinence-based education—both of which tend to withhold important, factual information and leave young adults ill-equipped to make safe decisions. Al Vernacchio, a high school sexuality educator who holds a Master’s degree in Human Sexuality from the University of Pennsylvania, has created a new category: sex-positive education. In For Goodness Sex, he refutes the “disaster prevention” model of sex ed, offering a progressive and realistic approach: Sexuality is a natural part of life, and healthy sexuality can only develop from a sex-positive, affirming appreciation.

Curious yet fearful of being judged, young people turn to peers, the Internet, and the media, where they receive problematic messages about sex: boys are studs, girls are sluts; real sex should be like porn; hookups are better than relationships. Without a broader understanding to offset these damaging perceptions, teenagers are dangerously unprepared intellectually and emotionally to grow and develop as sexual beings. For Goodness Sex offers the tools and insights adults need to talk young people and help them develop healthy values and safe habits. With real-life examples from the classroom, exercises and quizzes, and a wealth of sample discussions and crucial information, Vernacchio offers a guide to sex education for the twenty-first century.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.