BRET WATSON
Bret Watson is a firm believer that design can break barriers and create positive change. She is a highly motivated, passionate designer that is always eager to take on a new challenge. Born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, she is a lover of sunflowers and bread in any form. No matter how many house plants she has managed to kill, nothing can stop her from buying more. She blames the fact that they die of overwatering due to her being an Enneagram 2w3, and thinks her watering them is helping. Her degree project focuses on breaking down the stigmas and taboos surrounding sex education, and designing a way to foster an open conversation between parents and their children.
___
“FRANKLY, CHILDREN NEED TO BE EDUCATED ABOUT SEX.”
Sex education: a very touchy topic that everyone holds their own opinion about, but very few talk about. Should parents talk to their kids about sex, or should the child be left to figure it out on their own? There is a multitude of resources and studies done on how to talk to children, how to educate children, and what information is appropriate for children. But what about the other party in this exchange, the parent?
A study by Planned Parenthood found that just 43% of parents say they feel very comfortable talking with their children about sex and sexual health — meaning the other 57% said they feel somewhat comfortable or uncomfortable talking to their children about sex and sexual health. These numbers do not receive the attention they should. The level of sex education a child receives from their parent is directly related to how comfortable that parent is talking about sex.
With this knowledge in mind, Bret chose to tackle the sex talk problem with the intent to make parents more comfortable. When open communication is normal, kids are more likely to seek their parents’ advice about all the other trials of adolescence, including anxiety, depression, relationships, and drugs and alcohol. Sex education helps kids not only to understand their bodies, but to feel positive about their bodies as well. Young people whose parents effectively communicate about sex are more likely to delay sex, have fewer partners, and use contraception when they do have sex.
Through extensive research and iteration, Bret created The Talk, a set of table topic discussion cards based on the topics of sex education. The Talk takes the normal hush-hush, behind-closed-doors approach to sex education, flips it on its head, and places it out in the open in a family’s home. Designed to seamlessly fit a home’s decor,The Talk fosters an open conversation between parents and children.
The Talk is divided into seven categories: Bodies & Puberty; Sexual Intercourse, Pregnancy, & Child Birth; Sex & Intimacy; Gender & Sexual Orientation; Pleasure & Masturbation; STIs, Protection, & Birth Control; and Relationships. Each card has a topic on one side and a definition on the other, taking the stress of knowing what to say off of the parent’s shoulders and eliminating their fear of giving the child the wrong information about a topic they lack familiarity with.
Because parents often worry whether the information they provide their kids is age-appropriate,The Talk comes designed for three different age groups in mind: 3-7, 7-12, and 12+. Each set uses different ways to explain specific topics. These cards can be used as a single age pack or chronologically as the child grows up, because each card builds on information in the previous set.
Sex education starts at home and shouldn’t be something that a parent fears, especially when it is so important to the development and future of their child.