Guest blog post written by: Rev. Lane Campbell, Minister of Religious Exploration, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, OH
We are so grateful to ONE Condoms for their donation to our comprehensive sexuality education program, Our Whole Lives. As a church, we believe it is our responsibility to provide accurate, spiritually-grounded, values-based sexuality education to our children as well as to our youth. This program is essential to providing a foundation for healthy communication and healthy relationships throughout the lives of our Unitarian Universalist children and youth.
With the donations we have received, First Unitarian Universalist Church has been able to start education with our youth about how to accurately apply condoms in 5th and 6th Grade. Our children in this class are given the opportunity to touch condoms and to see what exactly they are all about, especially as kids are so curious at that age.
Having extra condoms on-hand has allowed out 8th graders to take their safer sex education to another level with what we affectionately term “The Condom Olympics.” These games educate kids about just how big a condom is, about how to use condoms best as an effective barrier for safer sex, and where to best store them. They test fitting condoms over hands, feet soda bottles, and all sorts of objects to debunk the myth that condoms don't fit. Our youth learn about proper lubrication, needing time and attention to apply a condom, and how to best approach the topic of using a condom with one's future sexual partners.
Throughout the year in our high school, young adult, and adult Our Whole Lives classes, condoms are made readily available so those who might consider cost or availability a drawback to using condoms need no longer worry.
ONE Condoms has made it possible for our program to better serve people of all ages in learning about safer sex. The Our Whole Lives program teaches our children and youth that the best sexual relations are those between consenting partners, those that utilize protection, and those that engage in communication and conversation. Through the use of these condoms, our teachers able to invite our kids to really consider what safer sex looks like and what its benefits are.