"Talking to teens About Chastity in a Way That They Will Listen" was a breakout session at the DAEC on Sunday that drew a packed crowd. Paul Masek, coordinator of the REAP Team (Retreat Evangelization and Prayer) in the Catholic Youth Apostolate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, led the discussion.
"It is important to know where our teens are coming from," said Masek. "They are not the battle, they are the battleground. As educators, our challenge is to talk about this issue in a way that is relevant and engaging to the teens in our care."
He suggested teachers consider addressing the topic with teens in an unconventional manner — in a way that is unexpected. An example he gave was to pass out suckers to the students. Have each person unwrap a sucker, lick it for a few times, then wrap the sucker back up in its wrapper, and put the suckers back in a bowl. Then ask, "Now does anyone want one?"
"It is lucid, short, sweet and to the point," said Masek. Find a way to "illustrate (your point.) Don't read straight from a catechism."
Look for multi-media ways to get your point across, he advised. "YouTube, guest speakers, DVDs — there are great DVDs on chastity you can rent — even having teens talk to other teens, providing you prescreen what they are saying.
"There are some great books (such as) Case for Chastity, and Theology of the Body for Teens," he said.
Masek showed some short movie clips he uses to illustrate his points. One was from John Candy and Steve Martin's Planes, Trains and Automobiles — a night driving scene on I-55 when people in a car on the adjacent two-lane highway are frantically trying to get their attention to tell the two men they are driving the wrong way. "Sometimes our church, the voices of truth, are speaking, but we do not listen," said Masek.
Another movie clip was from The Sandlot, where a young boy brings a Babe Ruth-signed baseball to use in a pick-up game, not realizing its worth, only to have the ball land in a vicious dog's pen. "A lot of people don't guess the value of their bodies. Showing a clip like that — funny, well-known, gets to the heart of the matter."
He encouraged his audience to talk to teens about respect, about being confused, about taking time to sober up before acting.
"There will be women in your life who throw themselves at you," Masek said he tells male youth.
For those in youth ministry, he said, "Watch what kids (teens) watch. Look for ways how to illustrate what you are talking about.
"Be passionate about what you believe." His final advice: "Pray your guts out."