When You Can’t Do OWL-Do This!

Updated 02/2022

These resources update at least quarterly, so be sure to check for the latest version on our websites:

www.uua.org/re/owl/facilitators  and https://www.ucc.org/what-we-do-2/justice-local-church-ministries/justice/health-and-wholeness-advocacy-ministries/our-whole-lives/

PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS AS SEXUALITY EDUCATORS

UUA version available FREE here: https://www.uua.org/families/sexuality-educators

To see the webinar on this topic, including tips for online adaption, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCKId_-u-ns&list=PL6VgfHt6zEy7n42hGl14bEcQh_85cbqa6&index=4

Note: UCC Adaptation is available as a working draft. Email Amy Johnson at owl@ucc.org. The material will be posted on ucc.org/owl in March.

Ideas for activities and conversations to have by age:

Winter 2022

  • K-1: Note: Watch the webinar with our K-1 revisions authors, Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller!
  • Check out our new Under Your Wing video series: Under Your Wing: Our Whole Lives Sexuality – United Church of Christ (ucc.org) and https://www.uua.org/re/owl/videos-k-1
  • Resource list here
  • Read Neither by Airlie Anderson.
    • Have you ever felt like you were left out?
    • What creation would you add to the Land for All?
  • Help your child write or dictate one thing they think is special about your family. Then encourage your child to draw a picture to illustrate these ideas.
  • Get from the library or buy for your family’s collection one or more children’s book about families. Read the book(s) and talk about it with your child. It can be nice to read some books about family diversity that explore many types of families, some books that reflect your own family’s structure or situation, and some books about families different than your own.
  • Each of the books below show many kinds of families.
    • A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary
    • My Family, Your Family by Lisa Bullard
    • The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman
    • Who’s in My Family? All About Our Families by Robie Harris
  • BOOKS ABOUT LGBTQ FAMILIES
    • And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell.
    • Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman.
    • Stella Brings the Family by Miriam Schiffer.
  • BOOKS ABOUT ADOPTION
    • All About Adoption:  How Families Are Made and How Kids Feel About It by Marc Nemiroff and Jane Annunziata.
    • Happy Adoption Day by John McCutcheon
    • My New Mom and Me by Renata Galindo.
    • Wonderful You: An Adoption Story.
  • BOOKS ABOUT SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES
    • Love Is a Family by Roma Downey.
    • Two Is Enough by Janna Matthies.
  • BOOKS ABOUT CHILDREN WHOSE PARENTS ARE DIVORCED OR SEPARATED (Note: All the books in this section refer to the separation or divorce of a mom and a dad).
    • Living with Mom and Living with Dad by Melanie Wals
    • Standing on My Own Two Feet: A Child’s Affirmation of Love in the Midst of Divorce by Tamara Schmitz
    • Two Homes by Claire Masurel
  • BOOKS ABOUT CHILDREN IN FOSTER FAMILIES
    • Kids Need To Be Safe by Julie Nelson
    • Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care by Jennifer Wilgocki and Marcia Kahn Wright
    • Speranza’s Sweater by Marcy Pusey.
  • BOOKS ABOUT OTHER KINDS OF FAMILIES AND SITUATIONS
    • Families Change: A Book for Children Experiencing Termination of Parental Rights by Julie Nelson
    • Sometimes It’s Grandmas and Grandpas Not Mommies and Daddies by Gayle Bryne
    • Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs by Susan Schaefer Bernardo.

PILOT 2021 Our Whole Lives-Based 4th-6th Grade

Recommended if Using Online Content

NOTE: This workshop has only been field tested in a school environment with 5th graders. It is important to note that this means all the children knew each other before the program started, and they had established group norms for acceptable and respectful behavior online. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you make sure these two things are in place in any group with which you attempt to run this adaptation.

If you choose to offer online sexuality education for grades 4-6, review these recommendations:

NOTE: Designing an online program based on pieces of Our Whole Lives requires much more planning and preparation than does using the published curriculum. You and your facilitators will need to determine whether they can take on this amount of preparation and planning.

  • Change the name. You will be using an untested adaptation of your own design, based on the information included here. Be sure you call this something other than Our Whole Lives since it is not the entire program. One option is to call it “Taking Flight” and to make it clear to parents and caregivers that it uses some OWL material but does not provide the comprehensive sexuality education that OWL does.
  • Shorten the program and session time. Youth are screened out. Shorten the time to 60 minutes maximum, allowing for time for discussion and knowing you may need to still cut activities.
  • Engage 2-4 facilitators. If you use breakout rooms in Zoom, each room should be moderated by two adults to maintain safe church/congregation practices. This means that for any module with break-out room activities, you will need to double the number of adults moderating. At least one trained OWL facilitator should be in each breakout room.
  • Create a safety plan.  What is your plan if a participant appears troubled, distracted, or disengaged? Pulling them one-on-one into a breakout room with one facilitator is not an option in keeping with Safe Congregation/Safe Church recommendations. What will you do if you think a youth is using a cell phone to record a conversation, or if a family member or friend interrupts?
  • Require a Parent Orientation. Completely design for every module in advance so you can inform parents about what you are including and excluding. Explain that there will be far less content, far less experiential learning, less self-exploration, and less community building. Acknowledge that your program may not be accessible to youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder, attention-related disabilities, or other issues that make Zoom meetings a challenge.
  • Emphasize group covenanting with parents, youth, and facilitators. Each family will need to covenant to respect a zone of privacy that ensures no one interrupts the youth during your sessions, and that no adults, siblings, or friends listen in from in the youth’s room or from behind closed doors. The covenant should include a prohibition against guests as well as cell phones, screen shots, and recording during sessions. We recommend requiring signed agreement from both youth and parents for these pieces.
  • Focus on meaning making, not content. The goal should be to help youth explore their own sexual values and to build social and sexual decision-making skills.
  • Create an anonymous Question Box. We found Jam board to work well and allow privacy/anonymity. Operate with transparency and consent from the group.
  • Incorporate Sexuality and Our Faith. Utilize some of the content from Sexuality and Our Faith to bookend your online sessions or to provide additional questions during your time together if you are in a UCC or UUA congregation.

 Basic workshop-by-workshop Outline below:

Workshop 1:

Sexuality and Values helps participants clarify, support, and communicate their values about sexuality.

  • Introductions and welcome
  • Circles of Sexuality
    • create a google slide or jam board with the circles, and one with circles and the sticky notes/squares below with phrases (see “Choose 10…”)
    • Go over briefly what each of the circles means
    • Choose 10 behaviors/phrases from the list in the curriculum, choosing 2 from each category
    • Create sticky notes/squares for each of the behaviors/phrases, making half one color and half another color
    • Share the slide or jam board with the sticky notes/squares with the group
    • Divide the group into 2 breakout rooms, assign each group one color of sticky notes, and have each group discuss them and move the sticky notes to where they think they belong on the circles
    • Process afterward
      • What was easy about that? Difficult?
      • Would you move any of them in the other group? Which one(s)? Why?
      • Any questions?
  • Taking sides
    • Preparation
      • On Zoom, click Share Screen and choose White Board*
      • On the Draw menu, choose the icon with two arrows
      • Create a continuum on the white board
      • using the text box feature, place the word “Agree” on one side of the continuum and “Disagree” on the other side
    • Share your screen with the group. Tell them to choose “annotate” and then to choose a stamp under the stamp menu.
    • Read your choice of statements for taking sides. Ask each participant to place a stamp on the end with “Agree” or “Disagree” Process the activity, asking for input about why they chose what they chose
    • *Alternately, ask them to type “Agree” or “Disagree” in the chat box and then process
    • Remember to ask for those with the minority opinion to go first, and to validate their thinking.
  • Word Bank
    • Create a Jam board with terms on one color sticky note and definitions on the other
    • Ask participants to guess which definitions go with which words
  • Question “Box” or “Board”
    • Preparation:
      • Create a Jam board with the title Question Board.
      • Share the Jam board so that anyone with a link can edit
      • If participants are new to the Jam board, show them how to click on a sticky note and write a question.
    • Introduce the Question Box/Board. Explain that at the end of each workshop, you will ask that they turn cameras off for 1-2 minutes so that anyone who would like to can write a question on a sticky note on a Jam board, and it will be anonymous.
    • Ask them to turn the cameras off for 1-2 minutes.
  • Turn cameras back on, thank them for participating and give them the reading for next week, and let them know they will each need one magazine, preferably one with lots of pictures of people in it.
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 2:

Images in Popular Culture helps participants become informed and aware of how the media portray sexuality.

  • Greet participants and answer question “box” questions
  • Collage activity: each participant will make their own collage, or alternately, look through their magazine to find pictures of people engaging in activities.
  • Process, saying: What do you see?
    • do you see people romantically connected?
    • do you see any same-gender couples?
    • Do you see anyone who appears to be gender-fluid?
    • Do you see interracial couples?
    • People with disabilities?
    • people with different sized and shaped bodies?
    • Are there many people of color represented?
    • What do you think about all of this?
    • Briefly discuss what beauty standards/attractiveness messages, etc.
  • Alternately, create a Zoom white board with categories of Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Never. Ask them to place a stamp at in one of those areas by changing the above questions to” How often do you see…”
  • Word Bank-Media literacy–define the one term for them
  • Question Box turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 3:

 Body Image helps participants explore the concept of body image, understand the diverse experiences people have with their body and its abilities, and consider ways to keep their own body healthy.

  • Greet participants and answer questions
  • Different kinds of bodies–do this online, having It’s Perfectly Normal open to show the appropriate pictures
  • Watch fabricating beauty live-share screen and process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7maC1IGnrO0
  • Read the Sammie story and process
  •  Dear Body–if time, ask them to write a short letter of gratitude to their body
  • Question box- turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 4:

Changes of Puberty helps participants understand the physical and emotional changes of puberty.

Wet dreams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_mWKHpEhaU

  • Activity-period product video-show and tell for products-do online
  • Word Bank–there are a lot of words for this session, so choose 10-15 to ask their help to match definitions with words on a jam board. Alternately, use an online platform to create a word cloud with all the puberty vocabulary words.
  • Question Box turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 5:

Gender helps participants examine the messages they receive about gender. They learn what it means to have a gender identity and about some of the many variations in sexual identity.

  • Greet participants and answer question “box” questions
  • Gender overview (SIEO)–use information in the curriculum to go over the differences in sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender expression
  • Brainstorm—use a jam board or whiteboard to capture stereotypes-what are the different stereotypes about gender that you have heard/know about/experienced? Process this activity-with questions from curriculum
  • Word Bank- Jam board with terms and definitions (covered with a blank note) that can be uncovered as you go along.
  • Question Box- turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 6:

Feelings and Attraction helps participants understand the concept of being romantically attracted to someone else, whether of a different gender or the same gender. Participants learn some of the terms commonly used to talk about sexual orientation and think about what people may do in a variety of scenarios related to attraction.

  • Answer questions
  • Lead the Sexual Orientation Overview from curriculum
  • What would you do if-Have jam board ready ahead of time with the prompts
  • Process the activity
  • Create a Jam board with terms on one color sticky note and definitions on the other
  • Ask participants to guess which definitions go with which words
  • question box- turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 7:

Reproduction and Staying Healthy covers conception, pregnancy, contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and other possible consequences of sexual activity.

  • Greet participants and answer question “box” questions
  • Pregnancy-describe how it happens: It takes 3 things to make a baby: an egg, a sperm, and a uterus. A person with a uterus and ovaries who has gone through puberty, has eggs that begin releasing from the ovaries as part of the monthly menstruation cycle, usually one egg about every month. People with a penis and testicle who have gone through puberty start producing sperm in their testicles. When a person with eggs and a person with sperm make a decision to bring their bodies so close together that the person with the penis puts that penis into the person with the egg’s vagina, hundreds of millions of sperm release out of the penis. This act is called sexual intercourse, or some people say, “having sex.” When a sperm finds an egg, it creates a new cell that begins dividing and then that group of cells implants into the walls of the uterus. That is when pregnancy occurs. The cells keep dividing until about 9 months, or 40 weeks later, a baby is ready to be born. (Note: if you get questions about other ways egg and sperm can come together, you can let them know that there is amazing science available that can help an egg and sperm come together outside of a uterus; however, it still takes a person with eggs and a person with sperm to make the decision to bring them together to create a baby, and those cells still need a uterus to grow in)
  • contraception-basic overview that contraception or birth control is a term used to describe methods of keeping eggs and sperm apart; there are two main ways to do this: hormonal/medicinal ways that prevent an egg from releasing and barrier methods, which keep the sperm and egg from meeting. (Note that hormonal methods do not protect from STIs)
  • (STIs can read more about in It’s Perfectly Normal) –barrier/condoms are only one that protects against STIs
  • Read and discuss Rowan’s story if you have time
  • Word Bank- Jam board with terms and definitions (covered with a blank note) that can be uncovered as you go along.
  • question box- turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 8:

Decisions and Actions educates participants about a range of sexual activity, including masturbation and sexually explicit media/pornography. Participants have an opportunity to think about when they would and would not want to engage in certain behaviors.

  • Greet participants and answer question “box” questions
  • Explain that people get lots of mixed messages from lots of places about when to engage in sexual behavior, with whom, etc. It is important to think about what their values are around different topics, and what they might do in tricky situations.
  • Go through 2-3 scenarios from Decisions, Decisions with the group and discuss
  • When would I? Create a jam board with responses (Now, When I’m Older, Never, It Depends). Show jam board and read through activities on Handout 13. Allow time for them to think and choose themselves. This can be done silently or with discussion.
  • Word Bank- Jam board with terms and definitions (covered with a blank note) that can be uncovered as you go along.
  • question box turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 9:

Consent and Peer Pressure helps participants learn how to communicate about consent, to examine situations in which consent is violated, and to identify people in their lives who can offer help.

  • Greet participants and answer question “box” questions
  • Talk about consent. You might ask what they know about it. Give them the definition of consent and refusal. You might consider using a slide or jam board to show the definitions.
  • Do the Situation stations activity by choosing 2-3 scenarios to process in the group. If you have a large group, you may choose to split up into breakout rooms if you have enough adult leaders to have 2 per breakout room. Be sure to include Situation 6 as one of the scenarios with Kennedy and Riley because it is a positive example of consent.
  • Define Peer pressure and the three kinds
  • Ask them to write in the chat which trusted adult(s) they would tell if something scary or bad happened to them.
  • Word Bank- Jam board with terms and definitions (covered with a blank note) that can be uncovered as you go along.
  • question box- turn cameras off, invite to write a question on jam board, not everyone has to type something
  • Turn cameras back on, and say goodbye
  • Send out HomeLinks to Parents/caregivers for the workshop

Workshop 10: Healthy Relationships, Communication, and Celebration! helps participants understand the components of a healthy relationship and gives them an opportunity to practice communicating effectively. This workshop includes a program-conclusion celebration.

  • ●       Greet participants and answer question “box” questions
  • Using the method where one person shares and then chooses another person to share, ask each person to share one quality of a Healthy relationship. They can use someone else’s answer if it was the same one they were thinking of. Summarize what you heard them say.
  • ●       Remind them of some of the topics you have covered in the previous 9 sessions. (values, media literacy, body image, puberty, gender, attraction, reproduction, decisions, consent, and more!) Consider making a word cloud with all the word bank terms you defined during the program. Remind them those definitions are in the HomeLinks that were sent home to their parents/caregivers.
  • ●       Read a cookie recipe. Say that the recipe is important because if any of the ingredients or steps are left out, the cookies might not taste very good. Divide them into groups of four (if you are able to do so–you do not have to have an adult in each breakout room for this–they can use the raise hand feature if they need help, and you or your co-facilitator can circulate through the groups to see if they need help. Tell them they have 5 minutes to come up with a recipe for being in a healthy and safe relationship for their whole lives. Tell them to consider the things they have learned throughout the program, taking care to put the “ingredients” in logical order, and adding any steps they think are important.
  • ●       Gather them back to share their recipes. Validate what they have learned. Let them know if they heard an ingredient that sounded good to them, they can add it to their recipe.
  • ●       Take a few minutes to celebrate in a way that works for you. Perhaps you have mailed them a certificate or small gift, or you all have snacks together.
  • ●       Wish your participants well and say goodbye.

Grades 7-9 “Taking Flight” Parameters/Guidelines:

What About OWL Online?

  • The Our Whole Lives staff of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ empathize with those of you whose OWL programs were interrupted by COVID-related shutdowns and those whose new programs are on hold. In response to these challenges, we are developing solutions that are safe, accessible, creative, and values-based.
  • If you choose to offer online sexuality education for grades 7-9, review these recommendations:
  • The following recommendations are parameters for adaptions used in an online program based on Our Whole Lives for Grades 7-9 ONLY. Resources for other levels will be available through ongoing monthly webinars.
  • These recommendations are not an endorsement; rather, they are offered to help you created programing that is as safe and responsible as possible during this pandemic period. We strongly recommend returning to your in-person program as soon as it is safe to do so for all participants and facilitators.

NOTE: Designing an online program based on pieces of Our Whole Lives requires much more planning and preparation than does using the published curriculum. You and your facilitators will need to determine whether they can take on this amount of preparation and planning.

  • Change the name. You’ll be using an untested adaptation of your own design, so you may not use the Our Whole Lives name. One option is to call it “Taking Flight” and to make it clear to parents and caregivers that it uses some OWL material but does not provide the comprehensive sexuality education that OWL does.
  • Determine where to begin. Will you finish an interrupted program or to start from scratch?
  • Shorten the program and session time. Youth are screened out and should not spend nearly 40 hours online, completing 25-26 90-minute workshops. At most, offer 18 “modules” of 30 minutes for sexuality education plus an optional 10 minutes for Sexuality and Our Faith (if yours is a UU or UCC program).
  • Engage 2-4 facilitators. If you use breakout rooms in Zoom, each room should be moderated by two adults to maintain safe church/congregation practices. This means that for any module with break-out room activities, you’ll need to double the number of adults moderating. At least one trained OWL facilitator should be in each breakout room.
  • Create a safety plan.  What is your plan if a participant appears troubled, distracted, or disengaged? Pulling them one-on-one into a breakout room with one facilitator is not an option in keeping with Safe Congregation/Safe Church recommendations. What will you do if you think a youth is using a cell phone to record a conversation, or if a family member or friend interrupts?
  • Re-run and require a new Parent Orientation. Completely design for every module in advance so you can inform parents about what you’re including and excluding. Explain that there will be far less content, far less experiential learning, less self-exploration, and less community building. Acknowledge that your program may not be accessible to youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder, attention-related disabilities, or other issues that make Zoom meetings a challenge.
  • Emphasize group covenanting with parents, youth, and facilitators. Each family will need to covenant to respect a zone of privacy that ensures no one interrupts the youth during your sessions, and that no adults, siblings, or friends listen in from in the youth’s room or from behind closed doors. The covenant should include a prohibition against guests as well as cell phones, screen shots, and recording during sessions. We recommend requiring signed agreement from both youth and parents for these pieces.
  • Review and incorporate 2020 Recommended Curriculum Updates. You will find the link at www.uua.org/re/owl under Facilitator Resources (scroll to the bottom of the page for latest information). 
  • Focus on meaning making, not content. The goal should be to help youth explore their own sexual values and to build social and sexual decision-making skills. You might show some short videos during group sessions and provide other links for independent viewing or reading (see the curated resources we’ve provided in the Facilitator Resources area online). Group time can focus on discussion and meaning making. Try to retain the diverse voices in the Readings.
  • Create an anonymous Question Box. Consider how you will ensure privacy when youth submit questions; alternately, clarify that while questions in Chat boxes can be submitted privately to the facilitators, those adults will know who asked the question. Operate with transparency and consent from the group.
  • Incorporate Sexuality and Our Faith. Utilize some of the content from Sexuality and Our Faith to bookend your online sessions or to provide additional questions during your time together. NOTE: Use of the Sexuality and Our Faith DVD is prohibited online and in this unauthorized program context. The good news is that Our Whole Lives is a fabulous and comprehensive sexuality education program even without these visuals.
  • Provide an at-home reference book. See recommendations on our curated list.

Suggested Outline: 

This outline creates modules from elements in different OWL workshops. Track timing of all elements you wish to use so you can limit the entire module to 30 minutes (40, if using Sexuality and Our Faith). Incorporate the 2020 curriculum updates as you go. Focus on helping participants to process information and ideas through a lens of personal and OWL values, which is a skill they’ll not likely gain through school programming.

  • Module 1: What is Sexuality?  
    • Group introductions and warm-up activity
    • Group covenant
    • Circles of Sexuality
    • Introduce Question Box
  • Module 2: Sexuality and Values
    • Chat-box check in: “Type one word that describes your week/how you’re feeling, etc.” Follow this quick process in each module.
    • Question Box – Spend 1 min. or less on each answer. Type trusted URLs into chat box for additional information (Amaze.org, Bedsider.org, etc.)
    • Values Voting – Use hand signals, Kahoot, Poll Anywhere or unmuting and calling out answers if participants have visual challenges
    • Personal Values Activity
  • Module 3: Language
    • Asynchronous, pre-session: Assign reading on the four types of sexuality language. Listen to several songs of your own choice and identify the messages presented and type of language used.
    • Synchronous discussion of pre-session assignments. How does language reflect sexual values? Who can be harmed by different types of language?  Who can be supported?
    • Agreements: Which type of language will be used in this program? Note: if the vote is to use slang, discuss it in light of OWL values.)
  • Module 4: Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
    • Asynchronous: Provide URLs to a basic overview of sexual and reproductive anatomy so questions can be answered during the synchronous session.
    • Discuss sexual anatomy as a continuum of difference
    • Connect messaging about anatomy to impossible “ideals”
    • Body image (in general, not just genitals), Part 1
  • Module 5: Puberty
    • Give an overview of basic physical changes, keeping language gender neutral
    • Facilitate discussion of how to navigate physical, emotional and social changes
    • Body image, Part 2 – Facilitate discussion of peer pressure related to appearance, general media, and social media
  • Module 6: Gender Identity and Expression
    • Use readings and activities from these workshops without assuming “our youth already know all about this.”
    • Affirm a range of identities and build communication skills so youth can engage family, friends, and peers in conversation.
  • Module 7: Attraction
    • Select activities that create space for those both comfortable with their own and others’ orientations, including asexuality.
    • Optional Guest Panel: If you select this option, you will need to schedule a longer session.
  • Module 8: Sexuality and Disability
    • Focus on normalizing visible and invisible disabilities, the fact that everyone may eventually experience disability or chronic illness and/or enter into relationship with people who do.
    • Show (Sex) Abled video listed in the OWL curriculum (streaming is 99 cents at SexSmartFilms) and use processing questions.
    • Scenarios: What Would You Do? 
  • Module 9: Relationships
    • Combine elements of the two existing workshops, such as Deal Makers & Deal Breakers and a combination of Healthy & Unhealthy and Power & Equality activities?
    • Discuss how social media (workshop 14) or distance (even when not in a pandemic) affect relationships? 
  • Module 10: Bullying & Bystander Issues
    • See video recommendations and processing questions.
    • Act out Scenarios provided in the curriculum
    • Discuss social media bystander responsibilities (See Social Media and Internet workshop)
  • Module 11: Redefining Abstinence
    • Topics to include: Masturbation, ways to build intimacy while respecting boundaries, values about sexual decision making, legalities related to sexting.
    • Discuss alternatives to in-person sexual activity, such as conversations, online or physically distanced games, meals, movie watching via Netflix Party, gaming, and being outside.
    • Discuss what intimacy is, how it can be fostered during social distancing, and how to anticipate managing relationships when physical distancing is no longer required.
  • Module 12: Lovemaking
    • Focus on informed decision making. The recommended activities below would each take up most of your session time. Consider creating resources for pre-reading prior to the session, so the synchronous time focuses on informed decision making.
    • Lovemaking: Myth Versus Fact
    • Is This a Healthy Sexual Relationship?
  • Module 13: Consent
    • Select a range of readings and activities, including discussion about how consent can be assessed in social media/online communications.
    • Include information from OWL Workshop 14 regarding online safety.
  • Module 14: STIs and Contraception
    • Consider assigning pre-reading on STIs and contraception so synchronous discussion can focus on answering questions and communication skills.
    • Amaze.org and Bedsider.org provide excellent self-learning tools.
  • Module 15: Unintended Consequences 
    • Normalize STI diagnosis and treatment.
    • Destigmatize unintended pregnancy.
    • Discuss options for unintended pregnancy and cultural attitudes around these choices. Facilitators should prepare by understanding their state laws and the reproductive justice implications of access to and lack of access to healthcare and reproductive choices.
  • Module 16: Decision Making
    • Select modifiable activities.
    • Convert How Do I Decide? Activity into a Kahoot or PollAnywhere poll.
    • Set aside time for participants to discuss how they’d like to celebrate completing the program.
  • Module 17: Communicating with a Sexual Partner
    • Consider assigning the Checklist for pre-session work with live-session discussion.
    • Retain the “Why I Always Use a Condom” reading. Discuss how the same scenario might go with a same-sex couple needing protection from STIs.
    • Engage two additional adults if you use break out rooms for small group discussion.
  • Module 18:  Wrap up and Celebration
    • Select a video or two for pre-session viewing and in-person discussion.
    • Modify the Health Resources activity for online use.  
    • Celebrate program completion by incorporating participant suggestions.
    • Invite participants to use the Chat to provide feedback on your online program.  Save a copy of the Chat comments and if you are moved to do so, please remove youth names and send their comments to owl@uua.org and owl@ucc.org

Grades 10-12

  • Recommended updates here. The 2nd Edition of this material is being developmentally edited and we are hopeful it will hopefully be published in 2022. In the meantime, please refer to the websites in the above material for Grades 7-9 and consider having regular meeting times to answer questions.

All adult levels:

  • consider focusing on anti-racism work, and the intersections between racism and sexuality education.

March 2022 OWL: Taking Flight webinar will be about OWL for Older Adults