Two Neat Sites for Teens and Their Parents

Hi all,
Just had to tell you about two cool sites I discovered this summer for teens and their parents. The first is Maureen Wittman's blog No Question Left Behind. Blog author Maureen says,

This is a place where teens can go and feel comfortable talking about heavy and not-so-heavy topics. It is a peer-to-peer platform where teens can trust that their fears, struggles, and questions will be heard and answered by those who struggle with the same issues.I put together a team of teenagers and young 20-somethings to answer the questions of teens. The team worked to answer all inquiries in the framework of Catholic teaching. I already have 200 Q&A's ready to roll so you can count on this blog being around for the long term.Please pass the word along. If you work with youth in your high school, parish, or diocese, please link from those websites or mention in your bulletins.

So check it out!

Earlier this summer my daughter and I attended a great day conference by my friend Doran Richards on Maidenhood: it was a good, Scriptural, very positive presentation of the changes that take place in a girl's body that make her a woman. Doran did such a wonderful job of presenting the material discreetly and beautifully: my daughter's reaction was not "ick!" but "Wow!" I wish I had gotten this presentation when I was twelve years old: I can still remember the uncomfortable classroom lecture by a health teacher on menstruation, down to the smell of the lineoleum. But at the Blessing God's Way presentation, we spent the day making raspberry leaf tea, discussing ways to take care of the body God gave us, reading Scripture, and making a fun scrapbook. Really much more memorable. Just so you know, this isn't a "sex education" talk: not at all! My eleven-year-old daughter was very comfortable (and she freezes up pretty quickly when she's not!).

One of my favorite parts of the talk was when Doran, (who is totally pro-life and anti-contraception as well) explained how the birth control pill alters and disrupts the cleansing cycle of our bodies, and my daughter was disgusted by the very concept of the thing. I think Doran's right on the money when she perceives that the best way for Christians to raise kids who are pro-life and Christ-centered in their thinking on fertility is for Christians to tackle this part of a girl's education. She does a wonderful job! So if you have a pre-teen daughter, check out this program!