How can I respond to a parent's concerns that the slides or video are not appropriate for their teenagers?
Respond with care and respect, and emphasize to the parent that their child will only see the slides or the video with written parental permission. Some rationale for the slides and video that you could convey to the parent:- Participants have the unique opportunity of viewing and discussing these positive, caring images in the context of a religious community with trained leaders and trusted peers.
- The presentations underscore the program's values of self-worth, sexual health, responsibility, justice, and inclusivity.
- The presentations depict sexual behaviors as loving, responsible, adult behaviors without the abuse, exploitation, violence, or commercialization common in media images.
- The presentations portray more of the real diversity of human experience (in race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and body shape, for example) than those of the mass media.
Sometimes parents will have concerns that go beyond what you can address. In these cases, it is best to find a way for the child to participate in the program and to be excused during those occasions during which the slides or video are shown.
Last updated on Monday, June 4, 2007.
