I had a conversation with a friend of mine over Facebook today about how to approach sensitive issues like sex, drugs, alcohol and (I would add) money in a ministry without making parents especially nervous. He pointed out that parents tend to want permission forms for events where youth ministers deal with things like that, so that they know what’s going on. The flip side of that is that parents are often a little squirrelly about letting someone else teach kids about those issues, even if they don’t want to do it themselves either!
So my thought was this: make a note of how often an issue you’d like to teach about comes up in casual conversations that you have with kids and that you hear them having with each other. Then, when you want to introduce that topic, go to the parents with the information that kids in the ministry are curious about these things, or already have beliefs and practices about them. Then offer a chance for the parents to be part of the conversation (this winter, CSMSG is hosting a parenting seminar on how to teach kids in healthy ways about sex) followed up with the series for youth or for families all together.
How has this kind of structure worked for all of you?
