Every spring I get super busy. There’s something about the calendar saying April that makes schools and parents think about puberty and sex education. My phone rings off the hook, my email piles up and I have to turn down or pass on requests to provide this education to students and families.

I try to reason with myself: “I can’t do everything,” I say in my head. “I mean, it’s not like if I don’t go, they’ll never get this information, right?”

Then I get phone calls requesting help for a sixth grader who thinks she may be pregnant, and I hear teens feeling stressed about how to set boundaries with their partners about what they don’t want to do, and I hear parents say thanks for the talk because they really didn’t know how to bring up the idea of sex with their preteen.

So I wonder, who is talking to our kids? How do we expect them to get the information they need to stay safe and make good choices? I mean, they don’t know what they don’t know yet, you know?

Here are some simple things you can do to bring up important topics in a (hopefully) non-threatening way:

• Start positively. Don’t jump right to doom, gloom and scaring the heck out of them so they’ll stay away from risky behavior. Talk about friendships and who they can trust, who they like to hang around and what they like to do. Make it fun — if they had $100 and could invite three people to do something, where would they go? What would they do? This is about relationships, responsibility, choices and respect. Super important.

• Be open to questions. Let your kids know that if they have a question, you’d really like to help them find the answer, if you already don’t know. In a previous article, I highlighted some reputable sites for researching answers to questions about growing up and sexual health. Visit www.plannedparenthood.org/parents for multiple resources for parents on different topics and how to have conversations.

• Go to a class together. Great Conversations offers classes for 10-12 year olds and a parent or adult to attend in a gender-separate format to talk about puberty, body changes and growing up. For information, visit www.greatconversations.com

• Read a book together. Check out the resources page on my website (www.diligentjoy.com/resources.php) and always preview the book first before sharing it with your child. Even having books around and available is a way to show you’re open to conversations.

• Use teachable moments. When you hear lyrics on the radio of a song, ask in a curious tone, “What do you think that means?” “What do you think they are talking about?” “Is that respectful to all people?” “How might you change those lyrics to be more inclusive or respectful?”

• Be aware and set good boundaries. Especially if your preteen or teen has a phone, they have access to all kinds of information and may not know how to make sense of it. Be sure you have a way to monitor what they are viewing, and that they know you will check. See this article about talking to your kids about porn they may see, if you haven’t already: www.federalwaymirror.com/opinion/281986531.html

• Don’t leave your child’s education about growing up, relationships, trust, boundaries and sexuality up to someone else. Often that means they’ll learn from peers or the internet, and it won’t be accurate nor will it be infused with your family values. Spring into action and talk to your kids.

Federal Way resident Amy Johnson, MSW, is a trainer, educator and coach in the Pacific Northwest. She is co-author of the books  “Parenting by Strengths: A Parent’s Guide for Challenging Situations” and “Homegrown Faith and Justice.” Amy facilitates classes and workshops in the Puget Sound area and online. She specializes in working with parents and in sexuality education. Amy can be reached at comments@diligentjoy.com.