About Your Sexuality

			About Your Sexuality

NOTE: It is recommended that this curriculum be discontinued and replaced with the new OWL (Our Whole Lives) curriculum. See the UUA web site for information about OWL.

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Author: Deryck Calderwood

Publisher: Unitarian Universalist Association

Pub. Date: 1983

Available From UUA Bookstore

Theme and Description

A comprehensive program on human sexuality. Contains leaders' guides; audiovisual aids; resource books for leaders, participants, and parents; pamphlets; and games. The 12 units include Femininity and Masculinity, Male and Female Sexual Anatomy, Conception and Birth, Birth Control and Abortion, Masturbation, Lovemaking, Sexual Minorities in Society, Opposite-Sex Friendships, Same-Sex Friendships, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and an AIDS Supplement (1989). Also included are guides for a parent orientation program and a section called "How to Begin the Program."

Goals for Participants

To view learning about human sexuality as an ongoing dialogue and a mutual process of exploration and discovery about whom they are and how they relate to others
To gain accurate, appropriate sex information openly and directly in a healthy context and through legitimate channels and from reliable sources
To develop good communication skills with each other and with adults about sexuality
To build positive and healthy attitudes about there own sexuality
To learn how to make responsible decisions about their sexual lifestyles and sexual behavior.

Age Range Junior high--ages 12 to 14

Size of Group 8 to 20 (regular attendance is necessary)

Space Requirements

A comfortable, attractive meeting room in which participants can sit in a circle on a rug or pillows; or a living-room-type setting with lounge chairs, to provide an environment conducive to communication.

Number of Sessions 20 to 35

Length of Sessions 1 to 2 hours

Leader Training

A man/woman leadership team is strongly recommended. The team should participate in a 3-day orientation/training workshop. This workshop, conducted by UUA-trained leaders, enables participants to explore their own attitudes toward human sexuality, build communication skills, and become familiar and comfortable with the content and methodology of the program. The UUA has trained leaders in each of its continental districts. Contact the District Religious Education Chair for dates of forthcoming workshops or the UUA Youth Office for names and addresses of trainers in specific districts.

Leader Preparation 2 to 4 hours per session for each team

Strengths

Offers processes for building trust among participants and with the leaders
Responds honestly and directly to all questions from the youth about sexuality
Encourages the youth to share their feelings and ask questions
Provides leaders with resources to meet the needs of the group as they arise
Through carefully designed parent sessions, helps adults examine their own attitudes and values regarding human sexuality to encourage better communication with their children and with each other.

Limitations

Requires leaders to carefully assess how ready the participants are for involvement in the program
Involves some explicit visuals and recordings of sexual experiences (which some youth, particularly less mature junior-highers, may not be ready for)

Adaptability

The program is easily adapted for senior-high groups. Some groups have had success using it again with the same young people who experienced the program as junior-highers. As participants mature, their questions and concerns change.

Unitarian Universalist ValuesThe Unitarian Universalist values and Principles that are implicit throughout this curriculum are clearly stated in the Message from the Publisher, in the introductory booklet About the Program.

The program directly addresses the following UU Principles: a free and responsible search for truth and meaning; the inherent worth and dignity of every person; the right of conscience and the use of democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; and the goal of a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.