We are very excited to continue our Unitarian Universalist tradition of using Our Whole Lives to support youth in gaining the knowledge, life principles and skills they need to express their sexuality in life-enhancing ways.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
OWL puts sexuality into the context of values and personal responsibility, helping participants manage social pressure and advocate for equality. Unlike many other sexuality curricula, OWL 7-9th is not focused solely on preventing or reducing problems such as high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended teen pregnancies. While the program certainly prepares youth with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to avoid these consequences, OWL has the more proactive goal of helping youth to become sexually healthy people who feel good about themselves and their bodies, remain healthy, and build positive, equitable loving relationships.
Another unique strength of OWL in comparison with other programs in Central VT is the high level of communication with parents and caregivers. Facilitators normally send out a brief but informative recap after each session, that respects confidentiality of discussion, but highlights main content and empowers families to continue these discussions at home.
THE WORKSHOPS
The facilitators make a significant investment into planning a thoughtful progression of workshops to engender trust and build on the knowledge from the previous week’s workshop. Because of this, participants are required to make a strong commitment to the group in terms of consistent attendance.
IT’S IMPORTANT FOR ALL GENDERS
Our OWL facilitators would like to especially encourage parents of young men to consider whether your child needs reinforcement of the values of communication, respect, and consent that OWL emphasizes. We know that many youth have full schedules and understand that OWL is a commitment for the whole family. Nonetheless, we have noted a striking gender gap in UCM’s OWL classrooms.
As in the broader society, our women and nonbinary youth—all with their equally busy, hectic lives–have most often prioritized sexuality education. They will be going out into a world that expects them to bear primary responsibility for being healthy, safe, making good choices, communicating with their partners, setting and respecting boundaries, and modeling healthy consent in their relationships.
We believe that this responsibility shouldn’t rest with specific genders alone, and so we want to encourage our community’s families to choose OWL for their children, of all genders, so that they can grow into adults who are prepared to share equally in the responsibilities and joys of relationships.
THE ESSENTIAL DETAILS
Where: Sessions will take place at UCM (130 Main Street, Montpelier). A complete schedule of dates can be found on this OWL Parent Orientation registration form.
When: The current plan for OWL 7-9th is as follows (if we’ve missed some major schedule conflict that impacts several families, we may adjust).
Parent Orientation: Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at UCM in the Children’s Chapel (130 Main Street, Montpelier). Possibly childcare available upon advance request.
Sessions (youth only) are all Sundays from 11:30 AM -1 PM unless otherwise indicated.
HOW TO REGISTER
Clear communication with parents is key to a successful OWL, so this parent orientation is a prerequisite for participation in the program, with at least one parent/caregiver in attendance for each family. That said, we strongly encourage ALL parents and caregivers to join in the parent orientation to find out more about this specific level of OWL and to meet (or re-connect with) the facilitators. You’ll be able to hear more details about the curriculum, see the teaching materials, and ask questions, and raise any schedule conflicts that may be a shared concern.
Have questions? Please contact Caitlin Frauton, Director of Spiritual Exploration, at ucm.spiritualexploration@