The scandal affecting the Church today has put a spotlight on many issues that the Church has been facing for many years. The lack of leadership on the part of major Church leaders, a colossal shift in their priorities, and deep flaws in Catholic education have created an environment where many people’s faith has been shaken. One of those flaws is the lack of education about human sexuality.
Let’s be honest. As Catholics, we don’t talk about sex. It’s not seen as appropriate in “polite” company. This attitude, however, is downright destructive. We need to be teaching our young people about how the amazing gift that God has given them and how to use that gift appropriately.
A problem that I have found is that there really isn’t all that much out there to guide young singles. Sex is a gift and a natural part of most Catholics’ lives, yet resources such as Theology of the Body are rarely taught in Catholic schools. The Catechism contains very little in explanation as to why certain things are right or wrong in regard to this topic. With little guidance on these teachings, how can one expect young Catholics to live these teachings and find good marriages? This lack of knowledge is manifesting in all sorts of ways. For example, an upstanding, generally considered “good” Catholic high school in North Carolina has a teen pregnancy rate almost three times the local county rate. We need to be educating our children and taking steps to eliminate this problem in our communities.
If we want to ensure that something like this never happens again, we have to start somewhere. Reforming the Catholic education system to include sexual education and health as a vital part of the curriculum is a real actionable intervention and one that I firmly believe will have an immediate, positive outcome.
Bridget Seelinger, BSN, RN, lives in Asheville and is pursuing a master’s degree in public health.