Theology of the Body for Teens -?

[gam197]

At our church, they are starting this program. My concern is that the teen youth group is a mixed group. The ages vary(13-17). Separating girls from boys would make me feel better.

They already seem so saturated by sex in many areas. I am just not sure.

 

[puzzleannie]

who is running it and teaching it
how well prepared are there
what resources are they using
have parents been given the chance to preview and opt-out
are the children separated by age and gender if not for the presentations, for the discussion parts

the materials from Ascension Press are excellent but no one should be presenting this topic who is not themselves well grounded in the teaching, who accepts and lives Catholic teaching on the topic, and is prepared for presenting to this age group.

 

[gam197]

The intentions are good but I don’t think it is going to work well. I actually went there and listened for just a few minutes. It really is not a setting for adults watching as the teens are already a little jumpy and seem uncomfortable enough. I think the parents were given an opt-out as most of the teens are the older so maybe there was an age limit. The person giving it is trying but it difficult to have a serious discussion. She tried to discuss the differences between girls and boys in emotions but I am uncertain if they really understood.

They were a mixed group which I think poses a major problem. The group is about 12 teens which actually is a good size group to present material. I would separate them at times. Boys in one room with a male figure instructing and girls at a distance in another room so they can’t hear the discussion and let them have plenty of time to ask questions. Then put them back together for comments or snacks.

I would invite the parent, although this may be a bad idea, in on one of sessions again split off by male and female? Later I might even ask a priest to hear confessions in the church.

It was an hour presentation and there will be 10 of these. They have a notebook and are given questions to take home and ask.

The three questions for this week are

What is life or purpose of life?
What is your body for?
They are to ask a parent or someone why it important to wait until marriage for sex? If they can’t find someone, they are to answer it themselves.