Our Whole Lives (OWL) and Sexuality and Our Faith
Parent Information
(Taken from www.ucc.org/justice/owl/parents.htm, May 16, 2007)
Our Whole Lives / Sexuality and Our Faith assumes that parents are their child’s primary sexuality educators. The OWL program is designed to encourage conversation between participants and their parents. In addition, parents have rights and responsibilities in the OWL program as well as roles to play.
Parent Rights
- Parents decide whether their children will participate. Most parents support sexuality education and very few choose not to have their children participate.
- Permission Forms must be signed by all adults with primary responsibility for the child—including non-custodial parents—before any child or youth may participate in the Our Whole Lives program. There are two kinds of permission forms:
- A visual form if visuals are going to be used
- A non-visual form if the visuals are not going to be used
- Parents have the right to see all materials their children will see. This is done in the context of parent orientation session(s) where an open, trusting atmosphere is created, one in which all sincere questions are addressed, one in which there is an open, trusting relationship established and where questions and concerns are welcomed and addressed and no information is withheld.
Parent Responsibilities
- Participate in the Parent Orientation session(s)
- Sign a permission form to enroll their child(ren)
- Make a commitment to regular attendance by their child(ren)
- Help out as needed (providing snacks, transportation, chaperoning, etc.)
- Speak with the facilitators (pastor or religious educator) if you have any concerns or questions at any time during the program
Parent Roles
- Parents are the primary sexuality educators of their children
- Our Whole Lives seeks to open and strengthen communication between parent and child. It directly and indirectly encourages youth to have conversations with their parents about a variety of sexuality issue.
- As sexuality educators, parents may want to educate themselves about areas of sexuality they know little about or feel uncomfortable with. Some ways parents can engage in ongoing learning include:
- Start a sexuality education resource library for parents, youth and others
- Participate in a program for parents as sexuality educators at their community health center, Planned Parenthood, etc.
- Explore resources recommended by Our Whole Lives, both websites and printed material
- Start a parents’ support group
- Advocate for the adult sexuality resource: Created In God’s Image
- Participate in and/or advocate for and Open and Affirming program in the church
- Purchase The Advocacy Manual for Sexuality Education, Health and Justice: Resources for Communities of Faith, and excellent resource for use in advocacy efforts in all communities.
