The best part of the day was sitting in on Sean McDowell's (www.planetwisdom.com) seminar "Helping students set sexual standards." Most of it was review for me since I have taken some courses in abstinence education, but the statistics about teenage sexuality never cease to amaze me. The latest one that really shocked me was that 54% of students by 7th grade have participated in oral sex. WOW...I had heard about some thoughts in the past about sex parties with junior highers, but it is still hard to fathom.
With that in mind, the thing I am wrestling with is how do you present abstinence and sexual purity to junior highers. There is no way to avoid it anymore, we have to cover it. The hard thing is parents do not want to believe that their middle schoolers would be participating in such things (or even know about them). We have to begin covering it though in a relevant manner with them. I know there are several great resources for older students, but does anyone know of any for middle school? I cannot think of any, in fact I am considering using that as a proposal for my upcoming master's project...Coming up with some type of relevant middle school purity material.
Here is what I think about middle school purity and how to address it:
- It must be covered!
- Parents must be involved/give input-they must stay educated and we need to help them however possible
- It must be simple but relevant
- It needs to be specific, but not too detailed as to give "ideas"
I am honestly unsure how to handle it. I know living in an area that has a high population of sexually active teens that I must address it, but my parents do not want me to cover it with them. Any suggestions?
It will probably be Tuesday before I post final Austin thoughts since I've got an 11 hour drive ahead of me tomorrow, but I'll get it posted as soon as possible
See ya then!
-Matt
3 comments:
I teach abstinence to jr hi kids. I've found that the best way to deal with parents is to offer a 'seminar' for the parents that will cover what you're going to tell the kids.
Sometimes parents don't want you to say anything because they don't know what you're going to say. By presenting it to the parents first, they feel more in control. I've found that I gain more supporters this way, parents who make sure their kid goes to my talk. It's a great way to give parents the statistics they need and the education they need on how to talk to their kids. Then the door is open for you.
It's a beautiful thing.
Hey Matt! Sounds like a blast, bro.... I'm heading to Cincy in a month for that one.
I had originally planned for Cincy, but since my wife wasn't able to go because of teaching and we'll see our family for Thanksgiving I decided to explore a little bit since I haven't been to Austin before. Hope all is well with you!
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