Julie Bowen ‘purposely’ leaves out books about ‘sex and drugs’ as learning tools for teenage sons

Julie Bowen talked about raising three sons on Thursday’s episode of “Today With Hoda and Jenna.” Hoda & Jenna/NBC

Julie Bowen is still living the “Modern Family” life.

On Thursday’s “Today with Hoda and Jenna” episode, the actress talked about the difficulties of raising teenage boys and approaching difficult conversations with them.

When asked if her sons ever talk to her about more personal and intimate subjects, she said with a laugh, “No. I have a lot of purposefully scattered about the house books that are informational about sex, drugs, what to avoid, how to not get people pregnant and not get diseases.”

The “Modern Family” actress shared a parenting hack for having difficult conversations with her teenagers. Hoda & Jenna/NBC Bowen has sons Oliver, 17, and twins John and Gustave, 15, as pictured here in September 2023. itsjuliebowen/Instagram

Bowen, 54, added that she is “constantly” trying to talk to Oliver, 17, and twins John and Gustave, 15, “about things like that,” but it’s hard.

“Basically I’m in the desert right now. It’s like I got dumped by three guys that I was madly in love with, and I’m like, ‘Hey! I’m right in the kitchen!’ And they never show up,” she joked.

Bowen also compared herself to being as “desperate” as she was in high school when she “had a crush on a boy.”

“Like, ‘Hi! It’s me, mom! I birthed you!’ They don’t care,” she confessed.

The “Hysteria” actress, pictured here with her sons in March 2023, joked that her boys “dumped” her when they grew up. Getty Images Bowen, pictured here on Thursday at “Good Morning America,” previously said she’s not afraid to be a “mean mom.” Getty Images The “Happy Gilmore” actress shares her sons with her ex-husband, Scott Phillips, pictured here with their sons in July 2014. Getty Images

Luckily for Bowen, her upcoming roles on “Hysteria!” and “Happy Gilmore 2” have kept them chatting with her, because they are “excited” to watch both.

Bowen previously shared the one question that gets her kids talking to her without fail.

“I ask my kids, ‘Who got in trouble in school today?’ I do it all the time. That’s been my entry point. But I’m dying to ask, ‘Who do you like? Who are you snapping with?'” she told Today.com in November 2023.

However, she clarified parents “can’t freak out” if they don’t like the response because “all kids get in trouble at some point.”

Bowen called her kids “hilarious.” Hoda & Jenna/NBC Bowen and Phillips, pictured here in 2016, divorced in 2018 after 13 years of marriage. Rich Polk

“The best advice I ever got was to not fear being a ‘mean mom.’ Don’t worry if your kids don’t like you — it probably means you’re doing something right. My kids are starting to like me but at least once a week, they say, ‘Oh no, you’re still that mom.'”

“But I see how my kids have turned out. I love them and I think they’re hilarious. I love hanging out with them,” she continued.

Bowen shares her three kids with her ex-husband, Scott Phillips, whom she divorced in 2018 after 13 years of marriage.