OWL.

[rivka]

I mentioned a little while ago that I might teach Our Whole Lives, the UU sex ed curriculum, next year. Since then, I've done a lot of reading about the program, spoken to the RE director, checked in with my sister Debbie, who taught junior high Sunday School for six years, and decided to sign on.

Our RE director helped me examine my fears about teaching the program. I realized that a lot of what was holding me back was (okay, and this sounds ridiculous) my memories of being an awkward and socially rejected misfit of a junior high school student. When I tried to imagine teaching a class of 7th-9th graders, I imagined them judging and rejecting me the way that my childhood classmates did. She told me that there are hardly any adults who voluntarily interact with junior high kids (parents and teachers have to), and so the kids wind up with an enormous appreciation for the adults who do. Geekiness doesn't seem to matter all that much.

She also told me that, although kids are often reluctant to start OWL, the ones who get past the first class or two universally love it. And "for some kids it's a life-transforming experience." She really sold me on how great it would be to be part of that.

Only after I agreed did I discover that I'll have to go away for an intensive training weekend. I knew there would be training, but I thought it would be, like, a couple of six-hour workshops. Nope. The sample schedules I've seen pretty much involve nothing but solid training from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, plus a few hours for eating and sleeping. So poor Michael and Alex will be looking at a solo weekend, sometime this summer.

But whoa, the more I look at this curriculum, the better it looks. It really does look like it has the potential to be life-transforming. Take a look at the OWL values and issue positions. They almost make me want to cry.

My sex education as a kid was dry, factual - medically comprehensive but emotionally lacking. I was lucky to escape most of the false information and moral condemnation that so many other kids got (and still get today), although my mother was pretty direct about her personal disapproval of premarital sex. It wasn't bad sex ed, comparatively. But it was a far cry from stuff like, "Healthy sexual relationships are consensual, nonexploitative, mutually pleasurable, safe, developmentally appropriate, based on mutual expectations and caring, and respectful." Or "We are called to enrich our lives by expressing sexuality in ways that enhance human wholeness and fulfillment and express love, commitment, delight, and pleasure."

It's going to be such an honor to teach this course.

Comments

[geminigirl]

I have always thought highly of the UU's OWL curriculum, and have wated to see it in a more in depth way than I've been able to access; from what I know, it's a terrific program, and I'm really looking forward to reading more about your teaching experience, and the curriculum itself.

I'm happy to talk more with you about my own experience working with adolescents and sexuality issues, if you think it would be of value.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

One of the neat things about the curriculum is that all of the religious stuff is in a separate supplement called Sexuality and Our Faith. It's keyed to the main lessons, obviously, and OWL teachers in religious settings can go through and interleave the Sexuality and Our Faith pages right into the OWL binder. Or you can leave the supplement out and just have a kick-ass secular curriculum suitable for use in public schools or wherever.

Alas, however, I think that OWL is probably waaaay too cool for public school. I can't imagine that content getting past a school board.

I'm happy to talk more with you about my own experience working with adolescents and sexuality issues, if you think it would be of value.

I would be so thrilled to hear any suggestions or advice you might have!

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

It looks like a fabulous course.

[tchemgrrl.livejournal.com]

My husband went through the OWL precursor (AYS, I think?) as a kid. From his descriptions he walked out, as a 7th grader, with better information and understanding than I had when we started dating, my second year of *college*. I don't know that it changed his life, but it's changed mine.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

In my experience working with pre-teens and teens, (a) they aren't judging me, and (b) even more importantly, I wouldn't care nearly so much as I might if we were peers. :)

As geminigirl said, if you want to hear more about my experience with teaching sexuality to teens, just ask.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

(b) even more importantly, I wouldn't care nearly so much as I might if we were peers. :)

Hee! That's an excellent point.

I would be delighted to hear any advice or suggestions you might have based on your teaching experience! And I'll probably have questions when I actually start teaching.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Also, would you mind if I stole that icon? My Religious Education icon isn't really going to fit anymore...

[thette.livejournal.com]

If you want to read about someone who feared young teens when she was in the same situation you are, uistic wrote about when she was doing school information for an LGBT association.

[edschweppe.livejournal.com]

Oh, good for you! I've been facilitating the 7-9 OWL for three years running now, ever since I leafed through a copy of the curriculum and asked "where the hell was this when I was growing up?"

It's been a tremendous experience each time, both for the youth and for the adult facilitators.

She also told me that, although kids are often reluctant to start OWL, the ones who get past the first class or two universally love it. And "for some kids it's a life-transforming experience." She really sold me on how great it would be to be part of that.
She's absolutely right. Every time I've taught OWL, there's been one or two kids who've come in absolutely hating the idea - and by the end of the first session, they're loving it.

The sample schedules I've seen pretty much involve nothing but solid training from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, plus a few hours for eating and sleeping.
Yep, but there's a lot of fun being had in the midst of all that.

It's going to be such an honor to teach this course.
That it is. That it is. And you're going to do it wonderfully.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

How wonderful. Is it team-taught?

I imagine that one reason to have the training done in one intensive weekend is that being all together for the whole thing would help build the kind of trust, respect, and comfort needed to talk effectively about sex issues with strangers. I hope it's like another SUUSI weekend for you.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It is team-taught, and the other teacher will be a man. They haven't found anyone yet, but it's pretty much a requirement to have teachers of different genders.

I think you're right about why the training is structured that way. I do think I'll like it, although I imagine I'll need to take the day after off to recover.

[ailbhe]

Teach ME! Please.

(I had SUCH a fucked-up adolescence)

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

My mother gave me a book when I had my first period. Good thing I had adult privileges at the base library.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

We had a pair of books: A Doctor Talks to 5-8 Year Olds and A Doctor Talks to 9-12 Year Olds. They were exactly like those titles make them sound.

And at school we were given Growing Up and Liking It (http://www.mum.org/guli72a.htm), an extremely goofy book about menstruation put out by a sanitary pad company. (Link is to scans of the full text! Any other American women who grew up in the 70s and 80s should check it out, because I bet it will take you back.)

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaah!! Growing Up and Liking It!!! (Yes, I know - we likely saw that movie, and got that booklet together. *grin*)

And you can absolutely snag my sex ed icon. I think I made it for myself after the March in 2004.

[erikted.livejournal.com]

They almost make me want to cry.

Me too.

Especially given how much Federal money goes to so-called "faith-based" sex ed that is nothing more than hateful spite.

And where was this when I was a kid and so desperately needed it?

Go you!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

That looks incredibly great. (Having just come off reading some M.J. Hardman, I keep looking askance at "healthiER", but it avoids a lot of the other things she talks about.)

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I'm very interested in hearing anything you feel comfortable writing for public consumption about it - think it sounds wonderful and may consider teaching it in the future, when I have a few more years of both UU and related experience (er... related professional/educational experience, that is) under my belt. In any case, I'm very happy it's something my children will be raised with.

[kiya]

Hmmmm ...

Could I maybe convince you to write something about it for Renegade Evolution's "Blogging For Sex Education" day on the fourth of June over on Respectful? Pretty please? ;)

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I think that sounds terrific, and the kids are very lucky.

Z was supposed to have sex ed as part of "Moral Ed" this year, grade 10. The teacher apparently said "Well, I guess you're all sixteen, and you all know it all, right? Anyone not know it all and want to go through it?" and the kids agreed they knew it all, and that was it. Now I'm not especially worried about Z, but what about the others? What sixteen year old wouldn't say they "knew it all", whether they did or not? Sheesh.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oh, for heaven's sake. That's really awful. Completely ridiculous. Even if you accept the ludicrous presumption that a kid who didn't know it all would admit it in front of the class, it's well-established fact that much of what the average 16-year-old thinks they know about sex is completely untrue.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

I actually did have pretty close to this sort of sex ed course in my "throwback to the sixties" seventh grade "bloc" experience, and I still think it sounds amazing.

-J

Middle school kids are great

[txobserver.livejournal.com]

I dreaded working with that age group when my kids were approaching middle school. But I loved it. There is a wonderful thing about that age...in a five minute interval, they cycle between little kids, trying to be teen agers, and mature and thoughtful adults. As long as you treat them with respect (and as a long time lurker here and at RoO, I know you couldn't do anything else) they will do the same.

Greatest moment working in my kids' classroom...they had broken for lunch and a mixed gender group not including my child were sitting outside at a picnic table. A small group were discussing who was most at risk for AIDS. I walked by, not eavesdropping but catching a snatch of their conversation. A seventh grade boy adkec me "Mrs. TxObserver, why ARE gay men a high risk group?" Very matter of fact, and just assuming that I would respond in kind. I gave a brief answer and suggested they ask for a more authoritative answer from their health teacher. It was so wonderful to be treated with that degree of trust. That age is a treat.