AbstractDespite widespread support for more effective sex education by parents, frank discussion of sex between parent and child is generally acknowledged to be a rarity. This study asked 18–19‐year‐olds who they felt should be responsible for instructing young people about sex, examined relationships between student‐parent rapport and parental involvement in sex education, and evaluated the impact of rapport and discussion on the students' practical knowledge of sex, birth control, and venereal disease. Subjects were undergraduate students (102 males, 97 females) at a state university. The results indicate that young people favor parental responsibility for sex education, and that rapport is associated with parent‐child discussion of sex. Both rapport and parental involvement in sex education were positively related to satisfaction with mode of sex education, especially among females. Neither rapport, nor parental involvement in sex education had a meaningful impact on practical knowledge of sex in the areas measured.