Gordon Clay here. October is Family Sex Education month.

As parents we provide sex education for our children. Each mother and father teaches his children about sex through attitudes, behavior and verbal comments and children get their first feelings about sex from their parents. And many of us had parents who didn't talk with us about sex.

Questions about sex are normal. The early questions are raised by children as naturally as any other questions. A new baby or the birth of a pet can lead to healthy discussions and understanding about sex.

What are your feelings about sexuality? Is sex a topic for scorn and dirty jokes? Is sex a topic to be avoided altogether? Is sex so secret or private or frightening that you can't talk about it? Some adults feel this way. Then they convey to their children the feeling that sex is bad and these children are unaware that human sexuality is a normal part of human personality and can provide some of life's most enriching experiences. Powerful sexual feelings cannot be ignored. Even if parents refuse to relate information about sex, children listen to the stories of friends or read in wonder the comments about movies or news items or covers of books and magazines.

The goal for many of us is to raise happy worthwhile human beings. But being an effective parent is a very difficult job. Just teaching abstinence is not enough since those who have made the abstinence pledge not to have sex before marriage fail over 80% of the time. It's time to teach all of our children about safe sex. After all, condoms are a lot easier to change than diapers.