Publications

Chastity Education / Sexuality Education

Overview of Programs

May 12, 2015

Note from Sister Kieran Sawyer

Article

Hello to all of my partners in the challenging world of sexuality and chastity education. In the March 2015 issue of the Catechetical Leader magazine you will find an article entitled The Synod on the Family – and Religious Educators. My thesis in the article is that, whatever the outcomes of the upcoming Synod, we Catholic educators will have a unique role to play in the process of renewing family life. Such renewal, I maintain, will depend largely on our ability to prepare young adults who are able to forge life-long, faithful commitments to God, to one another, and to the families they will create and maintain. Click here if you want to read or reread the article now.

Models and Annotated Listing

In the article I present several models of sexuality and chastity education and promise to create for you an annotated listing of some of the books, videos, online publications, and other materials that are available for implementing the various models. I’ve been working on the list for the past several months, but unfortunately I don’t have it finished. What I do have ready is a draft of the programs I have reviewed so far. I hope to add a more detailed description telling you more about what each offering includes and what focus it takes. I will also be expanding the list of models. Click here for DRAFT. (Be patient, it opens slowly!)

National Dialogue

The article states that I am hoping to start a national dialogue on sexuality and chastity education and invites the readers to email me if they want to be part of the dialogue. For my part, I think the dialogue has already begun! I have had some wonderful conversations by phone, email, and face-to-face with most of the people whose programs are represented in the list. It has been enriching, exciting, and challenging for me – and it has given me a much broader sense of the sexuality and chastity education that is being offered across the country. Many good folks are doing many good things to help our Catholic children and teens to understand the great mysteries of friendship, love, sex, and marriage. I am also planning to add to this webpage a blog-type section in which the readers can offer comments and suggestions as the dialogue continues.

Contact Me

The fact that you are reading this page is a likely indication that you want to be part of the national dialogue. If so, please send me an email using the Contact Form, or contact me directly at sawyerk@tymeout.org . Tell me who you are, what role you play in the catechetical world, and what sparks your interest in sex education. If you are using, or have used, any of the programs on the list, please tell me how they have worked for you. In addition, if you know about other programs, books, or videos that should be added to the list, please tell me about them.