Children and Adolescents Engaging in Problematic Sexual Behaviors

Using Language to Avoid Landmines: How to Convey Scientific Facts and Cut through Myths

How can we convey important scientific information to folks who are not interested in statistics and would rather listen to their ‘gut’? How can we cut through the widespread myths and misperceptions about children and adolescents engaging in problematic sexual behavior to promote fairer and more effective policies? The key is to use effective methods of communicating scientific research, while avoiding the ‘landmines’ that can derail your message. This presentation will examine some of the right (and wrong) ways to communicate information about controversial and stigmatizing topics to the public and policymakers, so that the underlying message has the best chance of being listened to and acted on. In doing so, examples of real-life interactions that went well (and not so well) will be covered, along with best practices when it comes to communicating difficult subject matter to the public, policymakers, and others who may not be receptive to the underlying message.