Wednesday, August 30, 2006

The Catholic Spirit "Safe Environments" Special Report Now Online

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The Primary Educators League has just released this second statement today:

The Catholic Spirit has finally posted the articles that ran in the August 17, 2006 special pull-out section on "Safe Environments."

There are three key links:
1) Julie Carroll's article entitled, "Parishes, schools to begin sex abuse prevention, safety programs."

2) Parish and School Curriculum Choices. There are no specifics by parish. We are trying to collect that information and once we have it, we'll post it on www.primaryeducators.org. The Archdiocese does not intend to publish this information.

This is also the first time that the archdiocese has publicly stated in writing that the "Formation in Christian Chastity" or Harrisburg program is approved by Archbishop Flynn. With no public exposure, the Harrisburg program now has 36 schools using it while "Talking About Touching" has 31 according to The Catholic Spirit (Aug. 17, 2006).

3) Questions and Answers with Sr. Fran Donnelly, Director of the Protection of Children and Youth Initiative for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Sr. Fran addresses the concerns many parents have about this program.

Here's the cached version where Sr. Fran Donnelly confirms that Planned Parenthood endorses "Talking About Touching."

Just for fun, run the following Google search for "Planned Parenthood endorses" and see what you come up with.

Archdiocesan staff has been busy preparing for the launch of the "safe environments" initiative this fall. Pastors, principals, and DREs will be prepared to answer all your questions and concerns. It is expected that every parent will have an opportunity to review the material before their children are taught safe touch.

If you haven't seen the "Talking About Touching" or TAT lessons, or if perhaps you need a refresher after a long summer, please check here.

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