Sunday, April 24, 2005
OWL in Ottawa
I am back from teaching at our senior high school OWL weekend. OWL is the "Our Whole Lives" program where we teach an intensive currculum (normally taught over 28 weeks) during four weekends. Each time youth participate, they get 1/4 of the curriculum. They sleep over for Friday and Saturday night, and get the evenings to relax and do whatever they want.
Hilights from this weekend include incredible food which was prepared by the young adults group in our congregation. These people are around 21 years old and are former youth group members, so they know many of the youth in the youth group. They plan, purchase and create all of the food and snacks for the weekend in an energetic and creative way.
Also, we had an amazing guest speaker on Saturday afternoon who is from a local talk show "Sex with Sue" -- for the first time ever, I heard an adult telling teens that sex is good for your long-term health - and that it is important to have sex about 4 times a week. She discussed the research on reduction of prostate cancer and risk of heart attack which is linked to regular orgasm. She also very specifically gave instructions, with diagrams on how to give oral sex to women, and challenged the boys and men in the room to point out where the clitoris is. During this part, one boy, about age 17, asked "Isn't pubic hair a problem?" And as she was explaining why it wasn't a problem, our minister, who is in his late 50's, walked in and listened in for a few minutes. I think he was a bit taken aback by the subject, but he took it in, and then quietly left.
I am a team leader - and our team of 5 shared co-facilitating 7 workshops, including:
Verbal and Non-verbal communication
Sexuality Timeline (when is sexuality an issue from birth to death)
Sexual Orientation vs. Biological Sex
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Parenting Licence (what are the factors needed to be a good parent)
Sexual Behaviour (what are the many possible types of sexual activities you can do - and who would you be willing to do them with, if at all?)
Sexual Exploitation (how do you know if something is sexually exploitive or sexual harassment)
The other 3 teams covered a broad range of other sexuality related subjects. Overall, much fun and learning was had by all.
In the evenings, we had different adults arrive to supervise overnight. The youth group had planned a variety of activities, including a rave (aka dance) and playing Wink for over two hours. This morning, everyone got together to do a closing/farewell ceremony and it was very moving to hear some of the youth talk about what they got out of the weekend. For some, they had never participated in this type of group event, and they were overwhelmed with the love and caring they found in the youth community. They said for the first time, they felt "safe" to talk to other youth and adults about "anything" to do with sex. It was so cool.
Hilights from this weekend include incredible food which was prepared by the young adults group in our congregation. These people are around 21 years old and are former youth group members, so they know many of the youth in the youth group. They plan, purchase and create all of the food and snacks for the weekend in an energetic and creative way.
Also, we had an amazing guest speaker on Saturday afternoon who is from a local talk show "Sex with Sue" -- for the first time ever, I heard an adult telling teens that sex is good for your long-term health - and that it is important to have sex about 4 times a week. She discussed the research on reduction of prostate cancer and risk of heart attack which is linked to regular orgasm. She also very specifically gave instructions, with diagrams on how to give oral sex to women, and challenged the boys and men in the room to point out where the clitoris is. During this part, one boy, about age 17, asked "Isn't pubic hair a problem?" And as she was explaining why it wasn't a problem, our minister, who is in his late 50's, walked in and listened in for a few minutes. I think he was a bit taken aback by the subject, but he took it in, and then quietly left.
I am a team leader - and our team of 5 shared co-facilitating 7 workshops, including:
Verbal and Non-verbal communication
Sexuality Timeline (when is sexuality an issue from birth to death)
Sexual Orientation vs. Biological Sex
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Parenting Licence (what are the factors needed to be a good parent)
Sexual Behaviour (what are the many possible types of sexual activities you can do - and who would you be willing to do them with, if at all?)
Sexual Exploitation (how do you know if something is sexually exploitive or sexual harassment)
The other 3 teams covered a broad range of other sexuality related subjects. Overall, much fun and learning was had by all.
In the evenings, we had different adults arrive to supervise overnight. The youth group had planned a variety of activities, including a rave (aka dance) and playing Wink for over two hours. This morning, everyone got together to do a closing/farewell ceremony and it was very moving to hear some of the youth talk about what they got out of the weekend. For some, they had never participated in this type of group event, and they were overwhelmed with the love and caring they found in the youth community. They said for the first time, they felt "safe" to talk to other youth and adults about "anything" to do with sex. It was so cool.
