But they also say the sessions focus on areas families and schools wincingly avoid. Developed over several years through a national collaboration of the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Our Whole Lives curriculum deals with sensuality, intimacy and sexual identity as well as the more typical health and risk issues. Students are taught communication and refusal skills, and delve into topics as disparate as the keys to a lasting relationship, body image and oral sex. The program is open to all families, though class sizes are limited to 16 people and several of the slots are taken by members of the United Church of Christ in Simi Valley. Our Whole Lives is designed to help teens understand their bodies and to develop their own values and decision-making systems about sexuality.
Organizers characterize the class as a safe place to ask anything.
They insist every query will be answered head-on. We want to help these people be well prepared through providing them accurate and full information. The program tramples the delicate boundaries observed by school programs mandated by the state education code to hone in on abstinence and to give parents the option of pulling children out of sex-ed classes. Schools craft their programs with exceeding caution, sometimes involving parents and clergy on committees that recommend classroom materials to be used. Still, there are people who balk at the occasional use of Planned Parenthood speakers to talk about contraception to high school kids.