WHY THIS INFORMATION SESSION?
The reason why this Information Session is being held is because so many Catholic parents have asked for help in talking to their kids about sex.

They see their kids being inundated with advertising, music, and television programs that shout out the message, “There’s something wrong with you if you don’t have sex.”

Parents want the best for their kids—good health, quality education, and, in most cases, the hope of meeting the right spouse and sharing a lifelong marriage with children of their own. Even if their children are not called to the vocation of marriage but to a religious vocation, parents want them to have a proper understanding of the awesome gift of human sexuality.

You are the first and best educators of your children. Yes, it is hard to find the right words to talk with your kids about sex, but it is not impossible. Your kids need you. Be there for them. The information contained in resource material will help. But the most important part of the conversation is you. Don’t be afraid to start the conversation—and remember to keep it going.

Christ has promised that “the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32).  Sex is part of God’s plan of spousal love for us. We shouldn’t be afraid of it. It is a gift to be treasured and shared. What a wonderful gift it will be for your children to know and experience sexual love as God intended  

The DVD Series  The TOB for Teens addresses many questions. However, should a more difficult question come up that you cannot answer quickly, simply acknowledge that you get back to them and when.

Do you talk to your kids about sex?   
     
What do you say to them?        
  
How can parents speak with credibility to their kids about sex outside of marriage if they have done the very same thing they are telling their kids not to do?

What good does it do for parents to talk with their kids about sex?  
       
What does God have to do with sex?   
   
Why did God create us as male and female sexual beings?      
 
Why did God create sex?

If God made us as sexual beings, what is wrong with having sex with someone we love, even if we aren’t married to each other?

I had sex before marriage – so did most of my contemporaries. How can I expect my kids to behave any differently?

• Keep the lines of communication open
• Find the times and places that best work for talking with your teen.
• Having dinner together as a family is a proven communication tool.
• Set boundaries that are respected.

 Make sure there are consequences when your boundaries are not respected. Curfew times, calling home when a child will be late, responsibility for school work and household chores, and rules about company at the house must be clearly understood and obeyed. When they are not, it is your responsibility as a parent to take the appropriate remedial action, firmly but fairly. Every child makes mistakes. A parent’s job is to ensure he or she learns from those mistakes and does not repeat them.

Don’t allow one-on-one dating in the early teen years. The earlier girls begin dating, the higher the risk of engaging in premarital sex, having multiple sex partners, becoming pregnant and having an abortion. This is especially true when the boyfriend is older.

Keep alcohol off-limits to your teens. One in five sexually-active teens says they were using drugs or alcohol when they lost their virginity. (See “SexSmarts” survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Seventeen magazine, 2003, www.kff.org. summary publication #3368 or  www.seventeen.com/sexsmarts.)
Live your faith as a family. Teens in families who actively practice a religious faith are less likely to engage in premarital sex and other risky behaviors. (In its 2001 national survey, Faithful Nation, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that religious and moral values were the most important factors affecting a teen’s decision whether to have sex.

Parents were the most influential people influencing their decisions. (See www.teenpregnancy.org.) For your information as a facilitator, below are government data and statistics regarding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). 

Note: STDs are not the focus of any of the chapters of this curriculum, but the topic is briefly touched on in some sections and will likely come up in discussion. This information may be useful to you:

More than sixty-eight million Americans are currently infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Each year, fifteen million new STD cases are reported. Approximately twenty-five percent of these new cases are found in teens, even though teens make up only ten percent of the population.

Teens are more likely than adults to engage in riskier sexual behavior, including multiple sex partners. An estimated twenty million people in the U.S. are believed to be infected with the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) with five and a half million people becoming newly infected each year. (HPV is an STD that causes genital warts. It also is responsible for more than ninety percent of all cases of cervical cancer.)

Sexually-transmitted diseases can be transmitted from a woman to her unborn or newborn child. Some cannot be treated and may result in premature birth, eye disease, pneumonia, permanent neurological damage or even death. Many STDs do not have immediate symptoms. They remain undiagnosed but can still be transmitted to others.

The listing below should not be construed as an endorsement of the opinions of the author(s) of these works but are provided as source material, as needed:   
1.  Scott Lehigh, “The Casual Emptiness of Teenage Sex,” Boston Globe, June 2, 2004 2. Jonathan D. Klein, MD, American Academy of Pediatrics, Teenage Pregnancy Policy Update, Adolescent Pregnancy: Current Trends and Issues, July 7, 2005 3.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tracking the Hidden Epidemics--Trends in STDs in the United States 2000, Accessed Sept. 20, 2001 4.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data, 2001. 5.  Laura Sessions Stepp, Washington Post, Study: Half of All Teens Have Had Oral Sex, September 16, 2005 6.  Deborah A. Wilburn, Family Circle, “It’s Not Really Sex,” October 9, 2004 (2003 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation survey of adolescents information) 7.  Eric J. Keroack, MD, FACOG and John R. Diggs Jr., MD, Medical Abstinence Council, Bonding Imperative, December 31, 2002 (Information on oxytocin and vasopressin) 8.  The National Catholic Bioethics Center on Health Care and Life Sciences, Ethics & Medics, And The Two Shall Become One, Biochemistry and Pair-Bonding, Dianne S. Vadney, MTS, April 2005, Vol. 30, No.4 9.  National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health published in the Journal of the American Medical Association September 10, 1997 v 278, n 10, p 823. 10.  Alan Guttmacher Institute, www.agi.org 11.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005, September 2000. 12.  SexSmarts survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Seventeen magazine, 2003, www. kff.org. summary publication #3368 or www.seventeen.com/sexsmarts. 13.  Dr. Meg Meeker in Epidemic: How Teen Sex Is Killing Our Kids, Washington DC, LifeLine Press, 2002.